Total Drama Regrets of the Island
by ThisisallIgot
Summary: In this season, our sixteen competitors better prepare themselves for trials of love, loss, and pain. But mostly pain. An OC season, APPs closed.
1. APP

I'll admit, this is my first time doing a 'send-in-your-character' thing, but I will try my best!

You may send in as many characters as you like, but I won't likely pick more than one character from anybody. The more detailed, interesting, and solid your character is, the more likely I am to pick them.

You can copy/paste this, just make sure to delete the words in italics.

Name:

Stereotype:

Reason for Competing:

Gender:

Age: _(14-17, be careful. This could make a difference.)_

Height:

Sexuality: _(Hetero, homo, bi, pan, trans, ace, I'd like a bit of diversity)_

Appearance:

Clothing: Normal wear-

Sleeping wear-

Bathing Suit-

Personality: _(Please be as descriptive as you can.)_

-When he/she is mad: _(How easy does your character get mad? Often, not so much? By what? How do they express their anger?)_

-When he/she is sad: _(How does your character behave when they are saddened/hurt? And no matter what their way of expressing it is, how long does it last? What makes them depressed the most? Is your character a very depressed person, or are they usually happy?)_

-When he/she is in love: _(How easy do they fall in love? How do they act around that person or when they're thinking about them? Is it easy for others to tell that your character is in love?)_

-When he/she is scared: _(Being a contestant of Total Drama, your character is bound to run into terrifying things. Do they scream? Do they have a natural tendency to fight or flight?)_

Quirks:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Fears:

Goals:

Skills:

Disabilities:

What they look for in a boy/girlfriend:

What they look for in friends:

What they hate most in a person:

Character's opinion on Chris and Chef: _(As a new contestant, he/she hasn't met these two hosts yet, but what will they think of them once they do?)_

Stats: Speed: /10

Strength: /10

Endurance: /10

Intelligence: /10

Self-control: /10

Anything else about your character worth mentioning:


	2. Cast and Theme Song

**Alright, sorry it took me so long. Here's the final cast and theme song, I'll post the first chapter tomorrow.**

Cast:

Boys-  
1\. Ace Rose, The Timid Gay  
2\. Casper Careen, The Unwanted Chemist  
3\. Marshall Aiden Greyson, The Tempted Outcast  
4\. Jason Williams, The Skater Emo [will be called by his last name in the story]  
5\. Jason Young, The Nice Boy [will be called by his last name in the story]  
6\. Jacque Cortez Metoyer, The Con Artist  
7\. Ray Johnson, The Sly Kid  
8\. Scott Adams, The Bi-Sexual Player

Girls-  
1\. Angie (Lorelei Evangeline Von Dessel), The Scary Punk Girl  
2\. Cathy, The Cat Impersonator  
3\. Yuki Sameo, The Peppy Gamer  
4\. Alexandria Smith, The Canadian From New York City  
5\. Yvette Rouere, The Bashful Albino  
6\. Chloe, The Fandom Geek  
7\. Tabitha Creek, The Drama Girl  
8\. Vera Jameson, The Level-Headed One

Theme Song:

_Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,_  
_You guys are on my mind._

Ace and Jacque are in the mess hall, with trays of glop I front of them. Jacque is eating it thoughtlessly, while Ace is poking it nervously. Chef comes into view and growls at Ace. Ace gulps and takes a spoonful, shuddering immediately afterward.

_You asked me what I wanted to be  
_  
Yuki is standing in the woods, holding a fighting stance from the game Street Fighter. Suddenly, she runs and drop-kicks a seagull, sending it off screen.

_And now I think the answer is plain to see,_  
_I wanna be famous!_

Williams and Casper are walking by each other, when Williams suddenly gets whacked in the back of his head by the seagull. Casper laughs at him, but stops when Williams glares at him and raises his fist. Before Williams hits him, Casper gets knocked over anyway when Cathy runs under his legs, bites the seagull and runs away with it. Williams begins to laugh hysterically at Casper being knocked to the ground.

_I wanna live close to the sun,_

The camera switches to Tabitha standing on the front of shopping chart and cheering excitedly, while Chloe is in the basket of it, eyes widened in fear as they're speeding down a hill. The shopping cart hits a rock and sends the two girls flying.

_Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,  
_  
Tabitha and Chloe hit the side of the confessional, knocking it over and sending Ray flying from inside it. He lands on his face, his legs bending above his head before flopping back down to the ground.

_Everything to prove, nothing in my way_  
_I'll get there one day.  
_  
Vera is looking excitedly out at the waves at the beach, holding her surfboard. But she then turns and glares at something over her shoulder. The camera zooms back to show Scott nearby, flirting with an obviously uncomfortable Yvette. Vera clenches her teeth as she raises her surfboard and swings it over Scott's head.

_Cause, I wanna be famous!  
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!_

Marshall is attempting to show Angie a magic trick on the docks. She looks mildly interested, until Chris drives by on a ski jet and completely soaks the two. Angie jumps up and starts yelling, attempting to curse out the host, but Marshall stands up quickly trying to stop her. Angie, trying to get away from Marshall and curse out the host at the same time, ends up slipping and falling into the water. She comes to the surface with a blank expression and spits out water, Marshall looking down at her nervously from the dock.

_I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous_  
_I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous_  
_(whistling)_  
_do do do do,_  
_do do do do do do_

Young and Alexandria are looking dreamily into each other's eyes, and lean in for a kiss. They get interrupted when Tabitha gets between them, wrapping her arms around their shoulders and pulling them into an unwanted hug.  
The camera zooms back to show all sixteen campers sitting on wood logs around a campfire.


	3. An Easy Start

**Okay, well here it is! Sorry for the wait. Don't trust me to make frequent updates, I don't have the most reliable environment. . . or personality when it comes to keeping up with things. ^^" But I hope it's okay, like I said before, this is my first time with a SYOC story.  
I was going to introduce them one-by-one, but if I did it would've taken a whole chapter just for that, so I (quite literally) dumped them into the story all at once.**

"Hello fans of Total Drama!" Chris greets the camera. He's standing in front of a few trees, some boulders are scattered around. "I'm sure you're all excited for a brand new season of you favorite reality tv show!"

An intern behind the camera speaks up. "Actually sir, after Pahkitew island our rates have been dropping more than-"

"Shut it!" Chris yelled. He calmed himself and turned back to the viewers. "We're on a brand new island, with plenty of tricks and traps to give our contestants nightmares for weeks after they go home!" He smiles broadly at this. "Speaking of our contestants, how'd you like to meet our new cast?"

The camera zooms back and we see sixteen trucks back up into view. Suddenly, the backs of them open and the trunks get tilted. Several 'Oof!'s, 'Gaah!'s, curses, and one hiss fill the air as people fall out, followed by their bags.

"What the hell was that!?" Yells one of the teenagers. He has black shaggy hair and dark blue eyes. He has a strong, tall form. One of his ears are pierced and he has a chain on his grey pants. On his purple and black shirt the words "Keep Calm and Party Hard" are printed on it.

"Sorry Jason, but I really didn't want to have to spend a whole episode just introducing you guys. So why not just get it done all at once?" Chris smiles brightly, ignoring the several glares he got from the teenagers.

A boy with brown, messy short hair stands up and brushes himself off. He was short. His eyes are unseen due to the reflective mirror-glasses that he wore. He's wearing a brown shirt, red long-sleeved undershirt, dark jeans, and green shoes. "Eh, sounds like a sound reason to me." He said sarcastically.

"Heh, I'm glad someone agrees with me, Ray." Chris said, not quite picking up on the sarcasm.

A skinny, brown-skinned boy gets off the ground, giving the host a look with piercing brown eyes. His black hair is in a buzz cut. He's wearing a dark grey T-shirt, black sweatpants, and red sneakers. "Ce'est des conneries, vous vieux b-"

Chris gives the guy a look. "Jacque, you're not saying anything bad about me, are you?"

Jacque puts on a small, sly smile. "What? Of course not..."

"Oh. Well, if you ever do, I'll make sure you get punished, got it? No one defiles the host!" Chris commanded.

Jacque didn't drop his smirk, but before he could assure Chris, a shriek sounded.

The camera turned to a boy with light ash brown hair, styled so that his bangs cover his left eye, which are green. He has a mole under his lower lip and slightly freckled cheeks. He's wearing a white hooded Canadian flag sweatshirt, with a gray Colorado Rockies T-shirt under it, purple lined baseball shorts, and gray and purple baseball shoes.

Running away from him on all fours is a girl with extremely tangled, long blonde hair. She wore a fury coat and fury pants, fluffy boots and a pair of gloves. Her eyes are a bright green color. She jumps on a boulder and sits on it, glaring down at the boy without saying anything.

"Marshall, what did you do to Cathy?" Chris asks in a half-laughing, half-trying-to-be-serious tone.

Jason snickers a bit. "What's up with that girly shriek?" He whispers to Jacque, who snickers too.

Marshall turns to look at Chris, blushing when he sees the two laughing at him. His voice cracks terribly when he answers, "I-I- I just w-wanted to see if she was okay! She was curled up like she was scared, so I tried to check on her! She acted like I was death himself when I came near, though."

A girl with wavy light brown hair and emerald eyes walks up to him and places a hand on his shoulder. She's wearing an orange track jacket, blue shirt, red shorts and red shoes. "Hey, it's okay." She says calmly. "Don't worry about her. I'm pretty sure she's not normal, anyway." She pointed the Cathy, who had stopped glaring at him and was now idly licking the back of her glove.

Marshall stared at Cathy for a second, surprised in her sudden change in mood. He looked down at Vera and put on a small smile. "Thanks." He said truthfully. "But in her defense, I don't think any of us are normal." He said, looking around at the other contestants.

The girl shrugged. "I guess you're right." She said simply.

The boy looked at her and smiled. "I'm Marshall." He held out his hand.

The girl looked at him. "Yeah, Chris said." She said. She took Marshall's hand and shook it. "Vera." She briefly smiled at him before turning away.

Chris rolls his eyes and looks at the camera. "Just give them a few more minutes to-" Chris gets interrupted this time by a commotion going on off-screen.

The camera whirls around to see a girl poorly trying to put a boy into a headlock, and another girl trying to get her off.

The girl has long, black hair in ringlets, dark green eyes, and white skin. She's wearing a white tee-shirt, blue denim shorts, red and white polka-dot suspenders, black and white striped knee high socks with red flats, avatars, and a dark green beret. She's on the boy's shoulders, attempting to put him in a headlock but failing, dramatically yelling, "I'M SORRY IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY, BUT I'LL DESTROY ANYONE I MUST TO WIN!"

The boy is trying to grab her and get her off. He has short black hair that reaches his forehead and green eyes. He's wearing a blue striped t-shirt, black jeans, and black and green runners.

The girl also trying to grab the assaulter has blue eyes, and long red hair tied in a braid that was draped over her right shoulder. She has an "I Love New York" T-shirt, blue jeans, a blue dolphin necklace, white and pink runners, and a light blue ball bracelet on her right arm. "PLEASE get off my boyfriend!" She asks the black-haired girl.

Chris walks up to the three. "Well Jason, Alexandra, I see you met Tabitha!" He says to the couple.

Tabitha's eyes get wide when she sees the host. "Oh my god!" She yells as she jumps off Jason's back and tackles the host to the ground with a hug. "You. Are. The. Famous. Chris McClean!"

A girl walked up with her phone and took a quick picture. Looking at it, she giggled, then looked at the camera. "Don't blink." She said. "If you blink, you miss a blogging opportunity." The girl has rectangular glasses in front of green eyes. Her hair is short and messy. She's wearing a grey T-shirt that has, "I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high-functioning sociopath" written on it, jeans, and black boots.

"_Your not helping, _Chloe." Chris hissed through his teeth, trying to pry Tabitha off.

Meanwhile, while Jason was brushing himself off and Alexandra was slightly glaring at Tabitha, the emo Jason walked up to Alexandra's boyfriend. "Wait, is your name Jason?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, well, that's my name too." Jason said.

The Jason with the striped shirt looked at the other Jason. "Oh! Hmm. . . we can't have two Jason's, can we?"

The emo Jason moved some hair out of his face. "No, that'd get confusing. . . I guess we could just-"

"Fight to the death!" Ray shouted, coming out of nowhere.

Tabitha finally let go of Chris and jumped up. "Yeah!"

"Fight, fight, fight!" Ray and Tabitha started chanting.

The emo Jason grabbed their faces and pushed them away. "No." He looked back at Jason. "I was _going_ to say that I could just go by my last name, Williams."

Alexandra looked at her boyfriend, then nudged him. "Come on, Jason. It's not fair that just _he_ has to go by a different name." She whispered to him.

Jason nodded at her and turned to Williams. "It's not fair just you are going by your last name. As long as there are two Jason's on this show, you can call me Young."

Williams smiled and gave him a thumbs up. When Young turned away to talk to his girlfriend, Williams muttered under his breath, "Then I guess I won't be called 'Williams' for long..."

"That sounds _super_ antagonist, bro." Ray said from behind him. Williams jumps, and Ray chuckles.

The camera focuses on Chris, who is touching his head fearfully. "Oh my god, look at how messy my hair got-" He notices the camera and shoos it away. "I can't do anything when my hair looks like this! Look at somebody else while I get it fixed." He said, running off screen.

The camera man does as told and starts filming a boy who is now just starting to walk up to a girl. The boy has hazel eyes with dark brown hair swept to the side in a surfer's cut. He's wearing a leather jacket over a black T-shirt, ripped dark blue jeans, and white Nikes. "Hello," He says charmingly, "You sure are a beautiful lady, and a brave one at that, for signing up for a game like Total Drama. What made you sign up?"

The girl blushes intensely through her incredibly pale skin. Her hair is pure white, reaching slightly below her shoulders, her eyes are pale pink, and she looks slightly unhealthy. She has red canvas shoes and a red hoodie over a T-shirt with the words "Touhou Project" and a green vector of a girl with a sword. She's also wearing a plaid skirt and black leggings, and a wide-brimmed black hat with a yellow ribbon on it. "Uh- um, I came to win the money. . . for my parents..." She says, letting out a thick French accent with a lot of stuttering.

"Oh really? You're a thoughtful girl," The boy says, stepping forward a step. "I like that. I'm Scott."

The girl blushes more with the comment and steps back. She looks toward the ground when she says, "O- oh, I- I'm not really- it just because- um... I- I'm Yvette."

"Oh," Scott says, smiling broadly down at her. "What a pretty name, it suits you." He says, leaning in a bit. "I wasn't lying when I said you're beautiful..."

"I- I- I- I need to go over there." Yvette stammered and quickly scampered away.

"I hope we're on the same team!" Scott calls after her, then looks away.

"Well that definitely didn't sound any warning bells, you creep." Said a boy who was walking up to Scott. He has light brown short hair and hazel eyes. He's wearing a white T-shirt underneath an unzipped black sweater with a red hood, faded jeans and combat boots. A pair of goggles is hanging from his neck.

Scott smiled at the boy. "What? I was simply trying to boost that girl's self-image. The shy type are usually very self-conscious." He said sweetly.

The boy gave Scott a mistrustful look. "Yeah, well, you still looked like a creep when you did it, 'Scott'."

"Sorry I came across to you like that, Mr. . . ." Scott apologized innocently.

". . .Casper." Casper said after a long pause.

Scott smirked. "It's a pleasure, Casper." Scott leans down, snatching Casper's hand and plants a kiss on it.

Casper quickly grabs his hand back. "OKAY, HOW ABOUT YOU NOT." Casper backed away from Scott quickly and ran away.

Chris was still nowhere to be seen, so the camera moved on to someone else. Chloe was walking up to a girl with black spiky hair pulled back in a ponytail and brown eyes. The girl is wearing an indigo skirt, black tights, moccasins, and a black zip up hoodie with a picture of Mario in a tanuki suit on the front.

"I _love_ your hoodie!" Chloe said enthusiastically.

"I know, _right_?" The girl asked back with equal enthusiasm. She pulled it out to look at it admiringly. "I wish _I_ could could get a raccoon suit that would make me fly. Do you know just how rad that would be!?"

Chloe laughs. "Dude, that would be awesome! I'm Chloe." She says, holding out her hand.

"The name's Yuki!" Yuki exclaims, taking Chloe's hand and shakes it vigorously.

Meanwhile a boy walks up to Young and Alexandra, looking a bit confused. "Excuse me?" He asked the two, the couple looking at him to give him their attention. "Isn't there supposed to be a host here?" The boy asked. He has brown eyes and short black hair that's spiked at the front. He has a scar on the right side of his upper lip. He's wearing a red hoodie with a silver undershirt, dark jeans and red and black sneakers.

"Yeah, Chris was here just a second ago. . ." Young says, looking around for the mentioned man. "I have no idea where he went, though."

Alexandra piped in. "I think I heard him mumbling something about fixing his hair." She turned to the boy with a warm smile. "Why, is there something you need?"

The boy looked at her. "Um, not really. I just feel a little nervous, I guess."

The couple looked at each other and wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders, turning back to the boy his similar smiles. "Don't worry," Young started.

"You can feel safe when you're around us, Alexandra," Alexandra continued.

"and Jason." Young finished. Suddenly his eyes widened and he held up his hand. "But call me Young, okay?"

The boy looked at the faces of the couple and smiled happily. "Heh, thanks. You can call me Ace."

"Oo, how'd you get that nickname?" Young asked.

"Um, my birth certificate." Ace answered.

A girl walked up to the current trio. Her build is thin and athletic. She has long black-and-blue braids, big blue eyes, pink lips, and dark makeup. She's wearing an oversized black bomber jacket, a blue crop-top, yellow tights, combat boots, and a baseball cap. "So, uh," She starts, not looking at anyone in particular. "What exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

The couple shrug. Ace looks at her and says, "I wish I knew. We don't even know where the host is."

The girl shifts a little. "Oh." She's says, and walks away.

Ace opened his mouth to say something to her, but she was already too far.

The camera follows the girl, her being the only one who hasn't said her name yet on film. She doesn't do much but stand idly for a while, until she gets almost trampled by Casper, who was running until he tripped trying to dodge her.

"Hey, watch it!" She yells at him, glaring as he gets up.

Casper looks fretful when he gets up. "I'm sorry," He says quickly, "But I just made a HUGE mistake touching this one girl with a fur coat." He hides beside a boulder before asking, "Is she still chasing me?"

The girl looks around. "I don't see anyone with a fur coat. So get out here and stop being retarded." She says bluntly.

Casper walks back up to her and adjusts his goggles. "Jeez, your almost as bad at first impressions as the girl I was running from."

The rolls her eyes. "Hello, dear stranger that almost ran me over, my name is Angie. It is such a _pleasure_ to meet you." She says sarcastically. "Now _go away._"

Casper is about to say something but he gets interrupted.

"Okay you losers, let's get this show on the road!" Chris says, finally appearing out of nowhere, his hair having an unusual amount of gel and shine in it.

Marshall looked nervously at the host. "Excuse me, sir, but could you refrain from calling us 'losers?'"

Chris scoffed at him. "Could you _'refrain_' yourself so I can get this show on the road?" The host mocked.

Ace gave Marshall an apologetic look. None of the contestants said anything.

"That's what I thought!" Chris said. "Now, to start, I want you all to come over here." He said, motioning for them to follow him. The campers looked at each other, shrugged, and followed.

The host stopped in front of an outhouse. "This is what we call a confessional! You go in and say what you wouldn't say in front of your fellow contestants!" Chris said happily. "Anyone want to give it a go?"

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
"I don't mean to be this nervous, but I can't really help it." Ace admits to the camera. "I mean, me and my boyfriend auditioned together, so I was hoping he would be here too, but since he's not I just can't help feeling overwhelmed..." He suddenly cringes. "Okay, it smells really bad in here."  
_*End confessional*_

The host kept leading the sixteen campers until they reached a beach, close to the wooden poles holding up a dock.

_*Confessional: Vera*_  
"Those are some of the best waves I've ever seen!" She cheers excitedly.  
_*End confessional*_

The host points to some circles drawn in the sand next to the poles of the docks. "Okay, I want each of you to stand in a circle, and stay there until I say to move." Chris instructs.

As the contestants do as told, the host smiles slyly, winking to the cameras.

Chloe seemed to be the only one who noticed, and gulps.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"Chris just winked to the camera. That's never a good thing! Someone's probably about to get seriously injured." She says worriedly. "I hope it isn't me!"  
_*End confessional*_

Once everyone has a place, they look at Chris expectantly.

Nothing happens.

"What the hell are we waiting for-?" Angie starts to ask.

Panels in some of the wooden poles open up, and boxing gloves on springs jump out and punch half of the unsuspecting contestants. Angie wasn't one of them, but her eyes widen when Tabitha, who was standing next to her, falls to the ground from a boxing glove hit.

"Oh god, WHY!?" Tabitha yells. "It BUUURNS!"

Marshall shrieks as he gets hit to the ground by a glove. Immediately he covers his mouth and blushes, embarrassed.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Scott flails his arms trying to regain balance after getting hit in the back by a glove. Once he stands upright without falling, he sighs in relief.

Cathy, who had been sitting down, managed to just barely not get hit by a glove- it wizzed by over her head. She still got freaked out by it, and crouched down farther, eyes darting rapidly around.

Yvette trembled on the ground. When she got hit by a boxing glove, it had knocked her to the ground and sent her hat flying off her head.

Ray laid flat on the ground. When he got hit, it looked like he had lost his bones and flopped uselessly to the ground.

Vera grit her teeth as she started to stand back up, giving the host a glare.

Casper jumped up quickly after he got hit to the ground. "What. Was. _THAT?_" He yelled at Chris.

Chris laughed. "That was the team-decider! Everyone who didn't get hit, stand over here," He pointed to the other side of himself. "And you guys who did stay there-"

"It's killing me..." Tabitha mumbled, curling herself up.

Chris scoffed. "Oh, please. That shouldn't even leave a bruise!"

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
She was rubbing the arm that had gotten hit. "But he has no idea how easy I bruise. . ." Yvette mumbled, tears stinging her eyes.  
_*Confessional: Casper*_  
"I am SO close to punching this guy, you have no idea!" Casper yelled at the camera.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Chop, chop, we don't have all day!" Chris rushed the campers.

"Need a hand?" Scott asked Marshall, holding out his arm.

Marshall looked up at the offered hand, his previous blush not disappearing. "Huh? O-oh! Thank-"

As soon as Marshall reached for Scott's hand, Scott grabbed it and hoisted Marshall up quickly.

"Oh, don't mention it!" Scott said happily. Marshall started to wearily shrink away from Scott, who wasn't letting go. Scott used his other hand to tuck a strand if hair behind Marshall's ear. "I just couldn't help but think that you looked like you needed an act of kindness..."

"Uh-" Marshall's blush increased. Scott noticed and took that as the perfect time to let go of him and walk away. Marshall was stunned for a second, then gave a confused look to the camera.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"This is the perfect time to get on the good side of my team members, now that I know who they are!" Scott said. "Let's see. . . I already started on Yvette and Casper, now Marshall. . ." He started plotting.  
_*End Confessional*_

Casper, grumbling, dusted himself off. He noticed Yvette just got up, wiping her eyes. He frowned in concern.

"Hey-" He saw her hat a few feet away from the girl, and bent to pick it up. Casper walked up to her.

"Here." He said, handing the hat to Yvette. "Don't let that jerk-wad host get to you."

Yvette moved her hand away from her eyes and looked at the hat. With a shaky hand, she took it from him. "T-thanks." She stuttered. "I-I'll try." Yvette placed the hat back on her head.

Casper looked at Yvette, but she tilted her hat in a way she wouldn't be able to notice. A small blush crept onto his face and he looked away.

_*Confessional: Casper*_  
Casper was looking away from the camera, shrugging. "I mean, she's kinda cute..." He muttered.  
_*End Confessional*_

Before following the rest of his team, Ace stopped by Ray. "Um, are you okay?" He asked. "That seemed like it hurt."

Ray looked surprised at Ace. Then a smile crept onto his face. "Oh, yeah! I fell so hard because, well, this may be a little shocking..." Ray leaned in closer, voice low. "But I'm not really all that heavy."

Ace stared for a moment. Then he started to chuckle, realizing it was joke, for the fact that Ray was at least ten inches shorter than himself and also had the muscle build of a twig. "Never would have guessed!" He joked back before walking over to his team.

"All right!" Chris said, pointing over at the group who hadn't been hit by the boxing gloves. "You're team Thrashing Trout! So that would be... Williams, Yuki, Alexandra, Angie, Jacque, Chloe, Ace, and Young!"

"All right!" Yuki cheered, throwing a fist in the air.

"'Thrashing Trout?'" Jacque repeated, unimpressed. "That's the worst gang name I've ever heard."

Chloe looked at him. "Um, don't you mean _team_ name?"

Jacque crossed his arms. "Oh, yeah. That's what I meant. . ."

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"Because that's what we had in prison, _teams_, not _gangs_." Jacque scoffed, rolling his eyes.  
_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact..." Chloe quoted, "But I think the obvious here is that this guy is sending off some major warning bells. I don't think there's any deception about that."  
_*End Confessional*_

"And you," Chris pointed to the other group. "Are team Wrathful Ants: Scott, Vera, Cathy, Casper, Marshall, Yvette, Ray, and Tabitha!"

"Why did we have to get stuck with the _WORST_ name!?" Tabitha complained.

"I don't think it's really that bad of a n-" Marshall started to say.

"It's the _WORST_ name!" Tabitha interrupted him.

"Well-"

"The _WORST_!"

Marshall sighed and gave up.

"Hey, losers, stay with me!" Chris snapped his fingers, getting the attention of the campers again. "If you don't mind, we have a challenge to get to!"

Chloe gasped. "A challenge so soon? We've hardly been here for an hour!"

Chris laughed darkly. "Yep, I wanted to get your suffering on tape sooner than later," He said. He started walking, and the campers followed after him nervously. "But don't worry, I made sure that the first challenge would be an easy one to start with."

The campers sighed in relief.

"Here it is, the easiest challenge to start you guys with!" Chris said as they walked into a clearing in the woods. He presented two identical, horrifying obstacle courses to the contestants.

"In this challenge, you'll have to chose one member from your team to complete each obstacle in your team's course. First, you have the log hop," Said obstacle was a large tank of water, with wooden logs going across to jump across to the other side. Inside the tanks piranhas swam, gleaming evilly at the contestants with pointed teeth.  
"Second, you have the yeti battle," On the two course there were small boxing rings. Each one had a large yeti in the middle of it- one was cracking it knuckles and the other was doing leg stretches.  
"Third, you have the wall obstacle," A giant wooden wall was the third obstacle. The wood itself looked old and splintered, and half of the holds seemed to have bobbed wire sticking out of them.  
"Then the roof run," A triangular tin roof was the forth obstacle. The center of it had a point, with sloping sides all around. It had bobbed wire circling around some of it.  
"Fifth you have the pogo race," The fifth one looked like a length of flat space between the forth and sixth obstacles, with two pogo sticks at the beginning of them. Several lumps were hidden in the grass.  
"Then the disk dodge," It looked similar to the pogo race, but it had machines bordering the sidelines, with several slots in them to shoot out disks.  
"Followed by the staircase punch," The stair punch looked like a wide set of stairs, but it was also lined with walls, punching box gloves waiting inside.  
"And finished off by the cliff drop!" The last obstacle ended the course at a cliff. There was a massive drop to the water below from it.  
"You have to assign each member of your team an obstacle, and once they complete it, they tag the next person, letting that person do theirs. The first team who has their last person jump off of the cliff, wins!"

All of the contestants gape in horror. Williams grabs the host by the shirt. "What part of this was supposed to be _easy_!?" He yells at Chris.

Chris isn't fazed by Williams, and laughs. "Did I say easy? I meant the most difficult challenge to ever start a season!"

"Oh, you just think that's hilarious, don't you?" Williams says, raising a fist and lifting Chris in the air.

Alexandra and Young rush over and pull Williams off Chris before he could do anything. "Don't you know how bad of an idea that is!?" Alexandra whispers to him harshly.

"Hurt the host and you're off the island!" Young continues.

_*Confessional: Young and Alexandra*_  
"I really don't like this other Jason." Alexandra states.  
Young sighs. "Yeah, but we have to keep him in line. The last thing we need is for him to get Chris mad and cause our team to lose."  
The red-head huffs. "Yeah... Oh well. At least we have some decent people on our team." She shrugs with a smile.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Alright, the Thrashing Trout are on the left, and the Wrathful Ants are on the right. You have five minutes to decide who goes where!" Chris instructed, as they went to their respective courses. He looked at the audience, "As they sort themselves out, make sure you stick around to see how these teens compete in the most difficult challenge to ever start a season!"

{Commercial Break}

"This is stupid." Angie said, sitting on a chair.  
"Just say your line." Said someone off-screen.  
Angie sighed and held up a stick of deodorant. Monotone, she said, "Buy New Herb brand deodorant, because..." She paused. "Because, uh..." She threw the product over her shoulder, giving up trying to remember the line. "Because if you don't, screw you for being such a douchebag." She stomped off the stage.  
"I don't think we should make them do anymore commercials." Someone sighed off-screen.  
"At least Angie did better than Yuki did." The un-seen production crew could be heard shuddering.

{Back to the Show!}

"Welcome back!" Chris said, sitting on an elevated chair overlooking the obstacle courses. "It's time to begin the challenge!"

The teens were at their spots in front of the obstacles they chose.

On the two log hops, there was Williams on the Trout's side and Vera on the other. Vera had insisted to her team that she would take it, while Williams had assured his team that his experience with skating should be similar to hopping logs.

Waiting in front of the yeti battle was an excited Yuki and a freaking-out Casper. Yuki had volunteered for it as soon as could, while Casper was forced into the obstacle by his team because no one else wanted to take it.

Waiting in front of the wall obstacle were Tabitha and Ace. Tabitha had waited until it was the second-to-last unchosen course, first being the yeti battle, so that she could have the satisfaction of picking the better of the two. Ace didn't mind taking it, since the other obstacles were taken already.

The roof run's had a small staircase leading to the tin roofs for the two that chose the obstacle to stand on while they waited. Ray had chosen it because he thought it seemed like the most straight-forward, easy obstacle on the course, but he hadn't told his team that. Angie hadn't chosen the roof run herself but someone suggested it to her and she agreed.

Marshall believed he would be the most useful in the pogo race. He explained to his team that he had been in a pogo-race before, and had won fifth place. The Trout's had decided that Chloe would be the only one who could actually do the pogo race, since she was the only one who had ever used a pogo stick before, making her obligated to do it.

Jacque had been asked to take the disc dodge by his team, and he nonchalantly agreed, and stood in front of the obstacle, yawning. Honestly, he would have taken any obstacle that wasn't the first one- just looking down at the piranha-infested water made him feel nervous. Cathy hadn't actually agreed to doing the obstacle, but she didn't disagree- or say anything- so the Ant's had shrugged at each other and assigned it to her.

Yvette and Alexandra were standing in front of the staircase punch. Yvette was shaking nervously- she hadn't wanted to do any of the obstacles, but Scott had managed to convince her to take the one before him (and by convince I mean stunned into not disagreeing by 'assuring' her with a kiss on the forehead). Alexandra and Young were saddened when their attempt to get Chris to let them do two obstacles together failed. So they did the best next thing, and Alexandra took the obstacle before Young.

Waiting at the end of the courses were Scott and Young. Scott had taken the last obstacle without consent of the team, but they had been so worried about their own obstacles most hadn't noticed. Young and Alexandra had took a while trying to figure out what two obstacles they would be best at, and Young had the idea that if his girlfriend took the staircase punch, then they could both jump off the cliff together when she finished.

"All right losers, like what I said before, you can only start your obstacle when your teammate tags you. And you can not step on any of your teammate's obstacles, or you will get your team disqualified!" Chris reminded the contestants.

"Wait, what!?" Alexandra and Young complained. "No fair!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Chris stated, waving the couple off. "Now... GO!" Chris blew a whistle, starting the race.

Immediately Vera jumped into the water, purposefully avoiding the logs. She used the breast-stroke to quickly swim to the other side, the piranhas trailing behind her, jumping up and trying to bite her feet.

"Come on, Vera!" The Ants cheered her on.

"You can do it Williams!" The Trout cheered on Williams, who was focused on jumping carefully on each log. He wasn't having trouble, but he had to take a few seconds to get his timing right for each jump.

When Williams only had a few more jumps to go, Vera lifted herself out of the water. She hopped out of the tank and quickly tagged Casper.

"Oh god..." Casper muttered, hesitating to go onto the boxing ring.

"What are you waiting for, you weenie!?" Tabitha yelled at him from her waiting spot.

"Just go!" Vera urged him.

"Ugh..." Casper grudgingly crawled up onto the boxing ring. He looked up to see the yeti practically leaning over him, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "Uh... h-hi?" Casper muttered.

Williams hopped off the tank and tagged an eager Yuki. "Let's a go!" She yelled, jumping onto the boxing ring. The yeti glared at her, and she gave it the same look back, but smirking.

The yeti charged at her. As soon as it came close, she ducked down and stuck out her leg. When the yeti tripped, Yuki took the chance to kick it in the head before it touched the ground. With the yeti stunned, Yuki dusted off her hands. "That was easier than a tutorial level!"

_*Confessional: Yuki*_  
Yuki giggled. "And they say video games can't teach you anything!"  
_*End Confessional*_

She hopped off the other side of the boxing ring and tagged Ace, giving him a thumbs-up afterward. Ace smiled weakly at her, a smile that soon faded when he looked at the wall obstacle he had to complete.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
Ace sighed sadly, holding his head in his hand. "I don't think I can do this. . . I wish Zach was here. . ." He mumbled to himself.  
_*End Confessional*_

While Ace started up the wall, Casper was dodging the swings the yeti was giving him, but he couldn't get passed it to the other side.

"QUITE BEING SUCH A LOSER!" Tabitha yelled at him, waving her arms rapidly on the side he was supposed to get to.

"Urg!" Casper grunted, dodging another swing from the yeti. "Don't call me a loser! Geez, you sound like one of the kids from my chemistry class-" His eyes widened. Casper reached inside his sweater and pulled out a glass vile, filled with an orange liquid. _"Please be an acid, please be an acid..." _He said pulling the cork top off. When the yeti came close, he splashed it into the yeti's eyes.

The yeti yelled and brought it's hands up to it's eyes. Casper took the first chance to slide out of the ring, landing rough on the ground. Tabitha came up to him and slapped him on the shoulder, then ran up to the wall she had to climb.

Meanwhile, with the Trout, Ace was having some trouble finding a hold when he was a little more than half-way up. It seemed every hold he tried he had to pull his hand back due to getting poked with bobbed wire.

"Alright, Tabitha!" The Ant's were cheering. Ace looked over at the girl he had to compete with on this obstacle, to see her moving up the wall more quickly than he had.

_*Confessional: Tabitha*_  
Tabitha's eyes were tearing up, but she had a wide grin on her face. "My fingers are burning and feel like they've been stabbed by needles, because they literally have, but it's worth it for the win!" She said, shedding manly tears.  
_*End Confessional*_

Ace wasn't the only one who noticed the other team advancing. "Come on Ace, hurry up!" Some of them yelled.

He gulped and braved it, wincing when he had to grab onto a pointed hold. Due to Ace's head-start and Tabitha's speed, they ended up reaching the top at the same time.

Ace swung his legs around the wall to start climbing down the other side. Tabitha, on the other hand, jumped off of it, accidentally tackling Ray on the other side, who was waiting for her to tag him. "Oof!" They both yelled.

Ace stared then shook his head. "T- there's no way I'm doing that." He told himself as he continued to descend.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
"Honestly, I'm just hoping that Ray's alright." Ace said with concern. "I mean, like he said before, he's not all that tough..."  
_*End Confessional*_

Tabitha yanked Ray to his feet and pushed him up the stairs that lead to the roof run. "Come on, I just fell off a mile-high wall and lived! Don't just lay around!" She yelled at him, exaggerating the hight of her obstacle and leaving out the fact that she deliberately jumped off it.

Ace was half way down when Yuki yelled, "JUMP DOWN ALREADY! They have the lead!" Ace gulped and started to descend faster, jumping down only when he was a foot from the ground.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Ray said, stepping onto the tin roof. He started to run up it, jumping over a patch of bobbed wire that was in his way. "Heh, not hard at all-" When he got to the center of the roof, it suddenly spun violently. "GAH!" He fell forward, getting his arm stuck in a patch of bob wire. "Ow ow ow..." Ray muttered, trying to pull his arm back, only to slip and make the situation worse.

Angie's eyes widen when she saw that.

_*Confessional: Angie*_  
"Phew, now I'm kinda glad the other team have a head start. I wouldn't have expect that to happen otherwise." She said, sighing in relief.  
_*End Confessional*_

Ace was running over to tag Angie, who was already holding out her arm to him.

However, when he saw what had happened to Ray, he skidded to a stop.

"Dude, what are you doing!?" Angie yelled at him.

Ace looked between his team member and the member of the other team. Pausing, he ran over to the other team's roof run.

"Wait, GET BACK HERE!" Angie yelled as he climbed onto the Ant's obstacle.

"I thought you said that wasn't aloud!" Young yelled up at Chris.

Chris smirked. "I said you can't step on your _teammates_ obstacle!"

Ace ignored the fact that his team was yelling at him as he crouched down next to Ray, who was still struggling with getting his arm free. Ray looked up at him in confusion.

"What are you doing here...?" Ace ignored the question and carefully rearranged some of the wires, letting Ray get his arm back.

Ray looked at him in astonishment. "Um, thanks-"

"Go Ray, GO!" The Ant's yelled, making Ray bolt up and finish the obstacle without thinking. Ace quickly jumped off of it as well and ran to tag Angie, who glared down at him.

"I swear, if we lose because of you. . ." She warned, before starting to run up the roof.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
Ace sighed shakily. "God... what did I do? I shouldn't have-" Suddenly he looked up and threw his hand down. "No! I did the right thing!" He said with certainty. "And I know it's what Zach would have wanted me to do!" Ace smiled, proudly. "If I somehow don't get kicked off today, I'm gonna do my best, from now on."  
_*End Confessional*_

Ray tagged Marshall, who was ready with his pogo stick. Marshall stood on it, shakily at first, but started to steady.

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
"It isn't quite like remembering how to ride a bike, but it's good enough." Marshall shrugged.  
_*End Confessional*_

When she got to the top, Angie squatted down as the roof started to spin violently. She slid a few inches, but was able to get right back up when it stopped.

Marshall was halfway across the pogo race when he accidentally hit a lump in the grass. There was a loud popping sound, and Marshall went airborne, his pogo stick flying in the other direction. He landed inches away from the finishing point for his obstacle, but as he started to cross over it, Chris blew his whistle.

"You can only finish the pogo race if you cross the line with your pogo stick!" Chris ordered. Marshall turned around, to find his pogo stick lying only a yard away from where the obstacle started.

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've gotta be kidding me..." He muttered as Marshall finally reached it and started the race again.

Angie slid off the tin roof and landed on her feet, then ran over to tag Chloe. Chloe gulped, but put on a determined face and got on her pogo stick.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"I haven't been on one of these since I was, like, seven? Oh well, it's like riding a bike, right?" She said hopefully.  
_*End Confessional*_

When Marshall finally hopped to the end of his race, Chloe was having trouble staying up-right on the toy.

Marshall ran up and tagged Cathy on the shoulder. She stopped licking her coat arm and turned her head at the boy, staring at him. After a few seconds, she slowly turned her head back and resumed what she had been doing.

Marshall raised an eyebrow at her. "Umm...?"

"Come on Chloe!" The Trout yelled at the girl who was constantly falling, hardly getting far. She grit her teeth and kept trying, gripping the handles of it tightly, but she could hardly stay on it for very long. Eventually, when she was falling, she hit a lump in the grass and went flying, accidentally taking the stick with her.

Chloe landed on her back, the pogo stick landing next to her.

Jacque, a few feet away, raised an eyebrow at her. "You should've just said you couldn't do." He told her, shrugging.

"No... I am..." Chloe muttered, starting to sit up. "And always will be..." She grabbed the pogo stick and held it on her shoulder. She jumped up. "The optimist!" She yelled. She ran over the finish line, holding the stick in her hands.

Scott looked up at Chris. "That shouldn't have been aloud!"

Chris shrugged. "I never said they had to be on it."

Scott sighed and looked up to see the current state of his team. "Oh no."

The Ants that had already finished their obstacles were all collected at the start of the disc dodge, all trying to get Cathy to do her obstacle. Scott waited at his post for awhile, but when he saw that Jacque had already finished the disc dodge on the Trout's side, decided to try to fix the problem himself.

"You can do it, my sweet princess!" Young cheered on his girlfriend as she ran up the steps of the staircase punch.

Yvette watched nervously as Alexandra hopped over and ducked under the many boxing gloves springing out at her, and the albino rubbed the arm that had gotten hit before.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"I- I really didn't want to do this one, and I... I would have said so, if Scott hadn't k-kissed my forehead when he asked me about it." A deep blush formed on her face, but she looked anything but amused by what Scott had done.  
_*End Confessional*_

"What's going on here?" Scott asked as he came to the others.

"She won't move, obviously!" Casper told him, motioning to Cathy, who was crouching on all fours, glaring at the others.

"Hmm. Have you tried forcing her?" Scott said, moving closer.

Vera looked at him in questionably. "Don't you think that'd be kinda, y'know, unnecessary?"

"Not at all." Scott said, bending down and attempting to draw Cathy closer. "Come on, stop wasting all our time..." He muttered, knowing that the other team had a huge lead on them by now.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"This girl has gotten on my nerves." Scott says through clenched teeth.  
_*End Confessional*_

Alexandra grabbed Young's hand when she reached him. "Win it, my prince." She said, giving him a kiss.

"Of course!" Young assured her and turned around. He took a breath and jumped off the cliff. Two seconds later, a splash could be heard.

Chris waved a small flag in the air and blew his whistle. "The win goes to the Thrashing Trout!"

Scott's eye twitched at this information, the rest of the Ant's groaning.

The Trout, on the other hand, begin to cheer. Alexandra ran up to the cliff and yelled down, "Did you hear that, Jason? We won!" She then jumped off the cliff herself, jumping into the ocean.

"We did?" Jason asked her to her face when she came to the surface of the water.

Alexandra smiled and nodded.

With the other Trout members, Williams smiled happily. "You know, I'm surprised we won." He then thrust his thumb at Ace. "I could've sworn someone was going to lose it for all of us."

Ace looked nervously at the accusing looks his teammates gave him after that comment. Gaining some nerve, he said, "Look, I'm sorry. But I couldn't just leave him up there like that, okay? I understand why you're mad but. . . it was just something I had to do..." He muttered.

Angie stared at him for a second more, then shrugged. "Whatever man." She said, walking away, "Just tag me first next time, got it?"

Ace smiled weakly as the others stopped focusing on him and went to do their own thing for a bit. Before he did the same, Jason turned to Ace once more.

"Yes?" Ace asked, not sure what to do.

Williams paused, then smiled. "Nothing, sorry if I was hard in you." He turned away from Ace, but before walking away added, "That was just a pretty respectful thing to say, I guess."

At the elimination ceremony. . .  
The campers of the Wrathful Ants were sitting behind a large campfire, Chris standing alone on the other side behind a podium. "This is the elimination ceremony... this is what happens when your team loses a challenge. Every person chooses who they want to send off the island, and the person with the most votes against them is out. If you get a token marshmallow of safety, then you are safe."

Chef came up, holding a platter of seven marshmallows. "Let us begin." Chris said, sounding serious.

"The first marshmallow goes to..."

The Wrathful Ants started to look nervously at each other.

"Tabitha"

Tabitha smiled broadly when she caught the marshmallow.

"Marshall"

"Ray"

"Casper"

"Yvette"

Yvette sighed in relief.

"Vera"

Chris held the last marshmallow in his hand, pointing it between Scott and Cathy. Scott looked at Cathy angrily, who didn't seem concerned at all as she sat with her legs on the wood post.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Scott"

Scott caught this marshmallow proudly. Cathy didn't react, as if she didn't know what not getting a marshmallow meant.

Chris and Chef raised their eyebrows at each other. "Um, Cathy? You're off the island."

Cathy looked up at her name, then looked away.

"That means, 'see ya.'" Chris tried again, but she didn't respond. The host looked unamused and said to Chef, "Get rid of her."

Chef tossed the empty tray to the side and walked towards her. He grabbed her by the back of the coat, lifting her off the seat and walked her to the dock. She hissed violently and tried to scratch him, but he held her far enough away. "You are one messed up child..." He muttered, tossing her on the yacht.

As the yacht drove away, Scott ate his marshmallow gladly. Ray looked at him curiously, but Scott didn't notice.

**The votes:**

Ray: Cathy

Ray shrugged. "Cathy's a bad team member, and the rest of the team is probably voting for her, so I guess I have no choice."

Tabitha: Cathy

With bandaged fingers, Tabitha started listing off the reasons she chose the cat-girl. "She's lazy, she's a jerk, she's BORING, she doesn't talk-"

Casper: Cathy

"As much as I want to vote for Scott," Casper said, glaring. "I fought a FREAKING YETI just to have this girl sit and do nothing!"

Yvette: Scott

Looking to the side, Yvette explained to the camera, "I r-really don't like this guy, I can tell he's being fake-nice! It wouldn't be so b-bad of he would just stop... flirting w-with me," Her stutter got worse as she brought it up. "I just... don't like guys at all... I wish he'd stop..."

Marshall: Cathy

"It's not that I don't like her, she just doesn't have any common sense!" Marshall explained. "If we don't get rid if her now, we'll probably lose every future challenge, too."

Cathy: n/a

Cathy was curled up on the seat of the toilet, taking a nap. Chris flew open the door and yelled, "If you're not going to vote, GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY!" She screamed and bolted out, Chris moving out of the way.

Scott: Cathy

"This team doesn't have room for an animal." He said, rolling his eyes.

Vera: Scott

With her arms crossed, she explained, "I hate this guy. He's such a pervert! I want to get rid of him as soon as possible."

Contestants-

Team Thrashing Trout: Young, Alexandra, Chloe, Williams, Ace, Angie, Yuki, Jacque

Team Wrathful Ants: Marshall, Yvette, Scott, Vera, Ray, Tabitha, Casper

Eliminated (in order): Cathy

**So, was it okay? Did anything surprise you, or any parts that you really liked? Was the way I introduced the characters very confusing, or was it alright?  
And be honest, are you already shipping your character with someone? If yes, please tell! ^^  
If you saw any parts you thought were out of character, please let me know!**


	4. Movies at Midnight Pt1

"Last time, on Total Drama Regrets of the Island," Chris's voice rang out over film of last episode. "Our sixteen campers were put into teams and had to compete in the most challenging challenge to ever start a season!" Chris laughed at this. "After the victory of team Thrashing Trout, we all had to give a _relieving_ good-bye to Cathy."

The camera then switches on to show Chris standing on the docks. "What will happen to our contestants next, on Total. Drama. Regrets of the Island!"

Chloe appeared next to him, coming from off-screen. "That sounds a lot like _Revenge_ of the Island-"

Chris looked unamused. "Nobody cares, Chloe."

There was a pause between the two. ". . . I mean, they have the same acronym and everything-"

"Get out of my intro!" Chris finally yelled, and the camera switched from there.

/

Inside the mess hall, the two teams were sitting on separate long, wooden tables. The Ant's were huddled closely together on their side, leaning into the center of the table.

"I don't think it's worth it!" Marshall stressed to his team.

"It's bound to back fire." Scott added worriedly to Casper.

With his goggles secured in front of his eyes, Casper wasn't going to let them stop him. He leaned farther to the center of the table, where one tray was placed. With a steady hand, he held a glass vial over the grey slop they were given, and poured one drop onto it.

The Ants flinched back as the slop squirmed and screamed, then laid flat on the tray.

"Did... did it finally die?" Yvette asked nervously, too afraid to get closer.

"There's only one way to find out." Tabitha said darkly, holding a spoon in her hand.

Vera grabbed her by the shoulder. "Don't do this to yourself." She warned.

Tabitha shrugged her off. "It's too late to go back!" She shouted, taking a spoonful and shoving it into her mouth. "Gack!" She immediately fell to the ground with a hard thud. After a few seconds, Tabitha sprang back up and sat down. "It's actually bearable now!" She concluded.

"That was a huge false alarm." Williams groaned to his team, who watched the end display of what they thought was a threat at first.

_*Confessional: Williams*_  
"With a name like 'Total Drama', I figured this place would be actually interesting, but I was wrong." Williams rolled his eyes in disappointment.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Hm, I guess they weren't talking about strategies after all..." Chloe muttered, then looked back to the rest of the Trout. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be!"

Jacque scoffed at the geek before taking a bite of the grey slop. Minutes before he had successfully murdered it himself as if he was used to such kind of food. "Don't get your hopes up too quick, girl."

Chloe pouted angrily at Jacque, but he just smirked at her in return.

"I agree with Chloe, we should have some sort of plan here!" Alexandra stated.

Young, sitting next to her, nodded. "If we only knew what kind of challenge we're going to have next..." He wondered aloud, tapping his spoon on the table in thought.

"Sure..." Angie started to say. "But can we ask them for some of that stuff to make this stuff _eatable_?" She was attempting to yank her spoon back from slop that had grabbed it when she prodded the 'breakfast.'

Jacque leaned over her. "Here, babe." Using his own spoon, he murdered Angie's food.

Ace flinched back, pushing his own tray away. "I think I'm going to go for now..." He muttered, getting up from the table.

Yuki, with an expression of greater disturbance than Ace, jumped up from the table. "M-me too!" She yelled, running out of the mess hall. "Let's talk about those plans later!" She called to the remaining Ants from outside.

Tabitha gasped. She thrust a finger at the Ant's table with a look of utter disgust. "It's only been a day, and you're already conspiring against us!"

The couple and Chloe laughed nervously at the black-haired girl's comment.

Marshall turned to Tabitha, eyebrows creased. "They're a team, Tabitha, that's what they're supposed to do-"

Tabitha brought a hand to her chest, whirling her head around to look at Marshall. "Now_you're_ trying to conspire against _me_!" She brought her hands up to her head and shook it violently. "All those I thought I could trust the most, all turning against me at once!"

_*Confessional: Marshal*_  
"I- I didn't- what!?" Marshall sputtered, frustrated.  
_*Confessional: Alexandra and Young*_  
Both of them sighed in irritation.  
"Wow, Yuki started quite the scene, didn't she?" Alexandra said, rubbing her temples.  
Young held his head in one hand. "I don't think the other team is concerned about us wanting to make a plan, but it was so uncool of Yuki to just blurt it out like that!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"No one's done anything yet, Tab-" Yvette tried to say, but the girl brought her hand up to stop her.

"Please, I've already been betrayed enough!" Tabitha shot up from her seat and bolted out the door.

A silence hovered over the remaining twelve campers still in the mess hall.

"Hey!" Jacque yelled in surprise as Angie shoved him away when she realized how close he was to her on the seat.

The others turned to look at her when she stood up. "Can we all just agree that was way over-dramatic and move on?"

The others stood up themselves.

"That would be best." Vera stated, walking out the door with the others.

"It was so dramatic I'd say we don't even need to agree about it!" Ray added, following.

An hour later, there was no sign of Chris or any of his challenges. The contestants took this as a blessing.

"I've been wondering something, Princess." Young started to say to his girlfriend while they were sitting on the stairs leading to the girl's cabin.

"What's that, Prince Charming?" Alexandra asked him teasingly.

Young couldn't help but smile at her. "It's just, what'll happen when one of us gets voted off?" He stated his worry.

Alexandra looked a little surprised, then smirked and pushed his shoulder. "We're here to have fun, silly! Not worry! Besides, you and me are going to make it to the finals, so there's nothing to worry about, anyway!"

"Heheh, yeah! And we're going to have a blast doing it!" Young said, face brightening. The two stared at each other for a moment, their expressions getting softer. They leaned in.

Ace, walking out of the boy's cabin, saw the two sitting there on the stairs of the other cabin . "Oh, hey guys-! Oh." Right when he tried to call over to them, they started to kiss, lost in their own world. "Hmm..." Ace sighed sadly, getting lost in thought.

"Oof!" Ray said when he walked out of the boy's cabin and bumped into Ace on the steps, who hadn't moved off of it. "Oh! Hey Ace, what's up-" Ray followed Ace's previous line of sight, and his eyebrows raised when he saw the two kissing. He started to back off of the steps. "Watching people make out. . . not creepy at all. . ."

"Huh!? Wait, it's not like that!" Ace followed after the boy, who stopped.

"Okay... then what is it like?"

"I-" Ace paused, then gulped. "They sorta remind me of how me and my boyfriend would be like back at home. I was just a little home-sick, so I got lost in thought." He brought a hand to his arm and awaited Ray's response, not looking him in the face.

"Ah, I see, good to know you aren't a creep after after all!" Ray said and chuckled light-heartedly. It started to fade quick when he looked up and saw Ace staring at him with a surprised expression. "Uh... that was a joke-"

"Yeah, I know." Ace said, shaking his head to bring back reality. "Just- wow, I'm not used to such simple answers when I tell people I'm, well, gay."

Ray smiled. "Eh, don't worry about it. I wouldn't know what love is myself if someone shoved it under my nose, so anything's fine by me." He then stopped, and brought a hand to his mouth in thought. "I hope nobody actually does that. That would be kinda gross."

Ace chuckled. "Uh, yeah!"

Ray gave him one last smile before turning away. "I'll talk to you later, I gotta go find someone."

"Mm, okay! I'll see you." Ace waved, now with a smile.

A bit away from the cabins in the mostly-clear clearing Chris had dropped them into last episode, Yvette walked around the boulders, doing nothing in particular. She looked to the ground and hummed a soft tune.

Her humming melody got suddenly over powered by loud beeping noises, and a girl yelling, "WHAT!? Ugh, that stupid goomba always gets me!"

The pasty-skinned girl carefully peeked around one of the larger boulders, to find Yuki propped up against it, huffing at the screen of a DS.

Yvette walked around it to the girl. "Bad game?" She asked softly.

Yuki looked up in surprise, which quickly turned into a smile. "Oh, hey! Nah, not a bad game, just game over. I could _never_ bring myself to call any Mario game a bad one!"

Yvette smiled. "You like games, and your name is Yuki, right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much all there is to me." Yuki said simply, sitting down on the ground and closing her DS. She looked back up at the girl with a wide smile. "And you're Yvette, right?" The girl in question smiled again and nodded. "See, I can't forget that because you're the only one here close to being my height! I'm defiantly the shortest one here, but you aren't that far off." Yuki waved a finger at Yvette, making her giggle.

The albino sat down herself, in front of Yuki. "Hehe, to be honest, I didn't expect to have someone shorter than me here, it's defiantly a first. Um, have you heard of this game called Touhou Project?"

Yuki's eyes widened at the topic of games and leaned forward, shaking her head. "No, I haven't! It isn't bloody, is it?" She asked with slight nervousness.

Yvette thought. "It's a shoot-'em up game, but it's not that bad..." She reached inside the pocket of her red jacket and pulled out a folded peace of paper. "I- I only brought it up because you have the same name as this one character who's a witch."

"Oh, really?" Yuki asked with interest.

Yvette laughed, becoming relaxed with Yuki's interest in the conversation. She unfolded the paper and showed Yuki a pencil picture of an anime character. "This is what she looks like."

"Oh, did you draw this yourself? Looks nice!" Yuki said in awe.

A dark blush formed on her cheeks, along with a small smile. She nodded meekly.

"Her hat looks kinda like yours." Yuki said, looking between the girl and the picture. Suddenly she nabbed Yvette's hat, making Yvette's eyes widen for a second. She became relaxed once again at the sight of Yuki placing it on her own head, asking, "Do I look like the Touhou Yuki now?"

Yvette laughed. "Maybe you would if you're hair was bright yellow, and if you were also an anime character!"

Yuki laughed with the albino girl and gave her hat back. The two began to get wrapped up in a long conversation.

Back at the cabins, Jacque was leaning up against the back wall of the outside of the boy's cabin, snarling to himself at the sight in front of him. Casper had made the fatal mistake of walking too close to Scott minutes before, and was facing the consequences of Scott holding his hand in a stone grip in both of his.

"You got two seconds to let go of me, asshole!" Casper warned, doing his best to yank his hand back.

"Heheh, oh, I hadn't realized you were so feisty, Casper!" Scott yanked Casper closer. Suddenly he leaned in, making his and the chemist's noses literally touching. "In past experience, the feisty ones have always been fun~"

"AHHHH! SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

Ray came from the side of the boy's cabin as Casper started to strike at Scott. His eyebrows raised, and he paused for a second. He then slowly walked over to the wall and leaned up against it with the brown-skinned man. "Heh, they seem to be getting along, huh?" He asked sarcastically.

Jacque's eyes flicked down to the boy with a piercing look. When Ray didn't seem to notice and had his attention to the other two, Jacque returned his gaze forward as well. "Tch, it's all that pretty-boy's doing." He snarled. "To think, I thought I left all the gay assholes back at home."

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"Do I trust anyone here?" He crossed his arms. "Well, let's see. Pretty-boy is the exact mirror of every rapist I've seen in prison, and this twerp here might as well be a human eel. Yep, they have the _perfect_ qualities I look for in friends." He rolled his eyes.  
_*End Confessional*_

Ray looked up at him, and Jacque looked down at Ray again. Within seconds of eye contact the shorter boy shivered and quickly looked away. "S-so, I'll take it you've had bad experiences with homosexuals?"

Jacque scoffed with a smirk. "You kidding? 'Don't drop the soap' has become my life policy."

"Oh." Jacque got off the wall and started to walk away, but before he did he swiveled around and snatched Ray's sunglasses right off his nose. "HEY!" Ray screamed, dark blue eyes going wide.

Scott got distracted by the loud yell and lost his grip on Casper, who immediately slipped out of his grasp and sped away.

Jacque tsk-ed again and held the glasses out to Ray, who grabbed them and shoved them back onto his face. "Don't get your panties in knot," He said, before putting a finger to the boy's chest. "I got my eye on you." He turned and walked away.

"My, my, he doesn't seem very pleasant!" Scott said, walking up to Ray. He extended his hand under the boy's chin and pushed it up softly, making Ray look up at him. "Are you alright?"

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Ah, the person I came here to see. Alright, I wasn't kidding before when I said that have no idea what love is, but if I want to get this guy on my side... I'll have to act like I do."  
_*End Confessional*_

When Scott made him look up at him, Ray's face looked mildly disgusted by the act, but then slowly got softer. "Uh- y-yeah..." He muttered. He moved his face away from Scott's hand, and to complete the look of shy gratefulness, shuffled his foot. "Th-thanks for asking."

Scott's expression quickly grew a wide smile as he watched this, and he leaned down. "Hmm. . . are you sure that there isn't something. . . _else_, bothering you?" He brushed some of Ray's hair out of his face. "You seem a bit flustered for some reason."

Ray gulped. "Well, I did... want to ask you something."

Scott leaned closer to the boy's face. "Oh? What might that be...?" He softly asked, smile widening.

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Right now I wanna ask if you know what personal space is." Ray shuddered with a look of horror.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Would you be interested," Ray tried to keep himself from backing away. "In an alliance?" He asked meekly.

Scott paused his advance on Ray, then smirked. "Hmm. . . I would like that."

"Ah, great-!" Ray was silent when Scott didn't back up after saying that. "Eh... heh..."

"ALL CAMPERS COME TO THE CLEARING, WE'VE GOT YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE READY TO GO" Chris's voice yelled from the speaker poles.

"Welp, we should be going!" Ray exclaimed, walking around Scott before he could get any closer.

"Oh, right. Let's go, my new alliance buddy." Scott stood up and walked besides Ray, ruffling his hair.

"Eh... m-maybe we shouldn't be around each other too much during challenges, so nobody'll get suspicious!" Ray said quickly at the touch.

Scott smiled down at him warmly. "Ah, good idea. You're already proving to be a good choice, Ray."

"Heheh," Ray said, bringing a hand to face. He stopped and let Scott pass him. "_Ehhhhh..._"

"Oooh!" Chorused Chloe, Angie, Williams, and Chris as they sat in front of Marshall.

"And now. . ." With a flick of the wrist, a card appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and he held it out to the host. "Is this your card?"

"Huh, it is!" Chris said as he got up off the ground. He dusted off his hands. "You got some neat tricks, kid."

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
Marshall shrugged. "I'll take the nickname 'kid' over 'loser' any day."  
_*End Confessional*_

The other three got up. "It was cooler than I thought it would be." Angie shrugged, before whispering, "And props to you for getting that asshole Chris to say something remotely nice." Marshall smiled at her comment.

Williams walked up to Marshall. "How did you do that?" He asked, curiously.

Marshall's smile widened slightly and he closed his eyes. "To be a great magician, you may never reveal your tricks!"

Williams looked at Marshall, his eyelids drooping in an unamused stare. Marshall's expression became less happy and more nervous when he opened his eyes to see it.

Williams crossed his arms and walked around the boy to where the other contestants began to surround the host. "Tch, loser."

Marshall's visible eye widened, looked up, and the boy let out a loud sigh before turning to join the others.

"Alright, I'm only counting thirteen of you, who's missing?" Chris asked testily.

"Right here!" Everyone looked back to see Vera walking out of the near-by woods, gripping an angry Tabitha by the arm.

"Guh, you act like I was out there to shank a man or something!" Tabitha complained as Vera pulled her unwillingly along.

"I just wanted to make sure." Vera said with a small smirk.

Tabitha pursed her lips and glared at taller girl. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Heh, you standing by one of those camera guys just made you look suspicious." Vera admitted, stopping when they reached the others.

Tabitha stomped her foot the second she was let go. "I'll have you know I had a perfect, justifiable, re-"

"Shut up! Geez, we gave you kids too much screen time for character development already!" Chris yelled from the front.

Suddenly, Tabitha's scowl turned into an ecstatic grin. "Really!? Then you must have shown the viewers every second of that epic fight I had with all those robotic chipmunks by the beach to keep this rare golden-"

"We're not going to show a second of that." Chris stated blankly.

_*Confessional: Tabitha*_  
"Hmph!" Tabitha pouted to an extent that should be inhuman.  
_*Confessional: Casper*_  
"Is it wrong that I actually wanted to see where that story was going?"  
_*End Confessional*_

Vera put a comforting hand on the still pouting Tabitha as Chris began explaining today's challenge.

"Alright campers, today's challenge might confuse some of you who aren't that good at thinking."

Jacque leaned over to William's ear. "I'm thinking he's talking 'bout the pretty-boy over there."

Williams scoffed. "No kidding, that guy's all looks and no bite." He smirked.

Jacque snickered and held his fist out, the two sharing a fist-bump.

"Oh yeah? What's oh-so-confusing?" Angie put her hands on her hips. "Because I really doubt you're one to outsmart any of us."

Chris pursed his lips at the comment, but put a smile back on. "By now you've all probably gotten used to being on camera without acting, right? Well now, you're going to be actually acting, while not actually acting!"

"... Huh?" The contestants gave him different expressions of confusion.

Chris groaned loudly. "This challenge is about acting, which is supposed to be funny, because usually people on tv are already acting."

"Oh!" Most of the teenagers said, except for Tabitha and Chloe. The former jumped into the air, cheering so loudly it wasn't understandable. The latter still looked quizzical.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"But that's what Total Drama Action's theme was all about!" Chloe stressed to the camera. She leaned back against the wall. "This whole season puts me off, I mean, Chris hasn't even given us a tour of the island, or-" She gasped. "He hasn't even told us what this island is called! All he said was 'this is an island' and left it at that!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"Alright! Acting career, here I come!" Tabitha cheered loudly, jumping around.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"Wow. . . I could've sworn she was on the verge of tears a second ago. . ." Yvette said to herself, taken aback by Tabitha's sudden outburst.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Meet me at the stage in five minutes, tops!" Chris yelled through cupped hands, trying to be heard over the dramatic girl. "It's between the cafeteria and the docks!" He left the campers.

Alexandra and Young looked at each other, smiled, and turned to their team, which was starting to head in the general direction of the general area. "Hey, guys, hold on!" Young called for their attention.

"Alright, who here is good at acting?" Alexandra said as she and her boyfriend caught up to them.

The Trout give each other side glances.

"Well, I love to act like my favorite video game characters!" Yuki thrusted her thumb at herself. "My best one is Pacman!" She then began to clap her arms together. "_Wakka-wakka-wakka_..."

Chloe giggled, making Yuki stop her impression and laugh as well. Alexandra and Young looked at each other nervously.

"Hehehe! Whew- okay, well, I have a mean British accent!" Chloe stated.

"Oh, alright then, you and Yuki should probably work together, if we have to split up." Young said.

"Alright!" The two cheered, high-fiving.

"Are the rest of you any good?" Alexandra asked hopefully.

The other four gave nonchalant shrugs. The couple looked at each other in worry.

"Yo, not to bother your impending dread or anything, but the other team is already gone." Williams stated.

"We should probably get going!" Ace said as he started to run, leading the others.

{At the Stage Area}  
"Geez, you have to be the worst cast I've ever had when it comes to being on time!" Chris complained when the Trout showed up, most panting, and Chloe immediately plopped down on one of the plastic chairs set up in front of a large wooden stage.

Marshall looked at Chris. "But our team got here on time..."

"Whatever. Now," Chris clapped his hands. "The chall-"

"Alright! The challenge!" Tabitha cheered.

Chris laughed without humor. "Yes, _the challenge_. Now, you're going to separate into groups of two. One group from both teams will come up and act out the scene given to them. The group that acts the best will win a point for their team, and the team that has the most points after all groups go up wins. Team Wrathful Ants, since you don't have an even number, one of you will have to act by yourself-"

"I'll do it!" Tabitha immediately volunteered.

"Tabby, you don't have to take it on yourself." Scott told her.

Tabitha waved him off. "But what you don't understand is that I'm a master actress! I've been in two commercials- that I did amazing in- and every school play! Do you guys remember that one commercial with the girl crashing her car into the pool? That was me!"

"Really?" Yvette asked in curiosity. "I do remember that commercial, I think... they stopped airing it, though."

Tabitha beamed at the albino. "I know, but that's okay, I uploaded it on Youtube! Along with every other production I've ever been in! I should show it to you!" By this time she had her arm wrapped tightly around the smaller girl.

"O-okay! Sounds good...!" Yvette reluctantly said, hoping it would get the other girl off.

Young wrapped an arm around Alexandra. "We'll be a group, and Chloe and Yuki are going to be one." He said.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't get ahead of yourselves!" Chris instructed, holding out a hand. "I do have some rules about the groups. I want your team's shortest girl and your team's tallest boy as one group, and your team's shortest boy and tallest girl to be another. Other than that, everything else is fair game."

"Why are you separating us by height?" Ray asked, already feeling the eyes of his teammates look at him after the instructions.

Chris shrugged. "Just to make sure you guys weren't too comfortable." He smirked evilly and sat in a seat in the back, next to Chef.

"Well. . . I think I'm the tallest guy here. . ." Marshall said, using his hand to check. "Yvette and Ray are the shortest. . ."

Yvette twiddled her fingers, a blush forming, and Ray huffed and crossed his arms.

"And I'm the tallest girl." Vera said matter-of-factly.

Scott nodded, giving Marshall a slight look out of the corner of his eye.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"Hmm, too bad, Marshall would have been cuter if he were shorter. Ray, on the other hand, is pretty adorable- and I have that boy is so infatuated with me he's practically putty in my hands!" Scott said proudly. "I think this alliance will work quite well."  
_*End Confessional*_

"Based on what Chris said, that means that Vera and Ray will be a group, and Marshall and Yvette will be another." Scott stated, the others nodding. "And since Tabitha wants to be her own group-"

"NO"

"Don't be like that Casper!" Scott put his hand on Casper's arm innocently. "We'll be a great team!"

"Alright, who's the tall guy I have to act with?" Yuki said.

"Hmm. . ." Ace hummed, looking over the heights of the other males of team Trout. "I'm not sure- not me or Jacque, though."

"Huh?" Young looked at the only other male- the other Jason. They looked at each other from equal eye-lengths.

Williams growled. "Now we share the same height, too? Next thing you're going to tell me is that we have the same blood type or something!"

Young coughed and leaned back a little. "No, no, you're defiantly a little taller than me, by just a little."

Yuki gave Williams a friendly punch on the arm. "Then we're acting buddies!"

"Jason, I know for a fact that you two are the same he-" Alexandra started to say before her boyfriend put a finger to her lips.

"Did you want me to have to work with Yuki?" He whispered, trying to keep out of earshot of the others. "And now, we can be our own te-"

"Hey babe." Jacque said nonchalantly as he walked up to Alexandra.

The couple gave the guy looks of confusion.

Jacque raised an eyebrow. "Tall girl/short guy combo? Were you too busy making out to listen?"

"O-oh." Alexandra said. "Well, alright, I am the tallest one, aren't I?" She held her boyfriend's hand. "I'll see you soon, Prince Charming."

Before he let go of Alexandra's hand, he glared at Jacque. "I better not be hearing you call my girlfriend 'babe' again, got it?"

Jacque raised his hands, and for once he didn't sport a grin on his face. "Whatever man, just stop with all the mushy crap already." He said, disgusted.

"Um. . . do you want to work together?" Ace asked Angie, who was standing alone.

"Why do you ask me?" She said, raising an eyebrow up at him.

"Well, you or Chloe- I just work better with girls." Ace admitted.

Angie's eyes narrowed. "Why's that?"

Ace's eyebrows lifted. "Um... I don't know, they've always been easier for me to work with than boys..."

Angie softened her gaze. "Eh, fine. Not like I had any preference anyway."

Chloe walked up to Young. "Guess it's just you and me, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess." He answered quietly. "Darn, I didn't want to be away from Alexandra, and now she has to be in a group with that creep!"

Chloe nodded in understanding. "I completely agree, that guy is not one to be trusted. But don't worry, she seems like a tough red-headed heroine! She'll be fine."

Young smiled. "Heh, yeah, she is really great."

"Alright!" The campers covered their ears quickly when Chris spoke through a megaphone not just a few feet from them. "First groups, get on the stage!"

Alexandra stomped up the steps leading to the stage with a large screen over head, Jacque walking up behind her. "Hasty much?" He asked in monotone.

"I just want to be with my Jason again as soon as possible!" Alexandra said determined.

Jacque turned to the nearest camera and made a gagging motion.

"Stop touching me!" Casper ordered, heading to the stage, "I want to get rid of you as soon as possible, you freak!"

Scott trailed close to him. "If you say so, but don't blame it on me if we have get close-"

"Then don't blame me if I 'have' to punch you in your perverted jaw!" Casper whirled around, holding up a fist to Scott's face.

"Casper. . ." Scott said, looking down at the raised fist to the chemist's face. "Say what you want, but I know you think my jaw is my most attractive feature."

Before he could actually hit Scott, Chris yelled through the megaphone again. "Alright, for every round, the group that has the best act will win their team a point. You will be judged by Chef and myself! The group that acts out the scene given to them the best will win the round!" Chef leaned over into a box next to his chair, and pulled out two police hats. "For the first scene, one of you will play as a cop and the other as a criminal, and you will act out when the criminal gets caught." Chef tossed the hats, Casper and Jacque catching one each.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jacque glared down at the hat and quickly tossed it to Alexandra, who raised her eyebrow at him. "Let's just say I have more experience in the criminal position." He said simply.

Alexandra shrugged, and put on the hat.

_*Confessional: Alexandra*_  
"I'll do whatever I have to do to finish this stupid challenge." She stated.  
_*End Confessional*_

Casper put the hat on his head, not softening his glare.

"Now, Trout's team, GO!" Chris started a stopwatch, and the challenge began.

Jacque raised his arms up as Alexandra made finger-pistols at him. Jacque sighed loudly. "Go on, do tell me, what did I do wrong this time?" He asked sarcastically.

"Huh?" Caught off-gaurd, the New Yorker paused. "Uh, uh- for. . . shoplifting."

Jacque smirked. "Just for that? Aren't you going to arrest me for that _murder_?"

Alexandra just looked at him questionably.

"Of your _fellow police officer_?" Jacque continued.

Alexandra's eyes widened a little with understanding. "Yes. . . that's exactly what I meant. I'm here to. . . avenge my fellow police officer!"

A buzzer sounded. "Times up! Too bad we didn't get to see where that was going." Chris said, resetting the stopwatch. "Alright, Ants, GO!"

"You start." Scott said, motioning to Casper.

Casper smiled darkly. "Scott, you're under arrest." He didn't put his arms up to make a gun motion.

Scott looked surprised. "Huh? You must have the wrong man- I've never broken a law in my life!"

Casper smiled still, walking closer. "Ah, then you must not know what sexual harassment is." Before he could react, Casper brought his fist up and threw a punch at Scott.

"Woah!" Scott said, nearly dodging it. He dodged another, and the buzzer sounded.

Chris and Chef huddled together and started to whisper. Chris raised his head. "As entertaining as the Ant's were, Chef just loves his police drama. The Trout win this round!"

The Trout began to cheer as Alexandra and Jacque jumped off the stage.

"Unbelievable." Scott stated, walking off the stage and glaring at Casper

Casper held a proud grin. "Hey, you are the one who told me to go first." When they got to the rest of the Ants, none of them seemed all that upset.

Scott raised an eyebrow at all of them. "You all do know that we lost, right?"

"Mhm, shame." Marshall said, not dropping the content look on his face.

Scott paused, and walked over to Ray. "I don't think I'm on the good side of everyone here."

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Oh, you don't say?" Ray asked sarcastically.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Really?" Ray asked with surprise. "Why's that?"

Scott didn't answer for a second. "I think someone's been saying things about me, getting the others to not trust me behind my back."

Ray looked up at Scott. "Maybe. Or maybe you're sending them a distrustful vibe? That happens sometimes."

Scott crossed his arms in thought. "Perhaps. . ." He put a hand on Ray's shoulder. "Do me a favor my friend, and keep an eye on Casper. I'll try a little harder to get him on my side, but you never know with stubborn people like him."

"Wait, don-!" Ray said when Scott started to turn away after that. Scott turned back to him with a cocked eyebrow. "Ahem... What I meant was, that might not be the best idea."

Scott smirked down at Ray, putting a hand to his hip. "Why, do you not like it when I talk to him?"

"WHOA WHA-" Ray bit his tongue. "I mean- no. W- why would I? I meant that you should take it down a notch. Casper might respond better to _smaller_ forms of affection."

Scott's eyes widened. He smiled more. "Hmm, not a bad idea. See you soon, Ray." He said, walking back to the others.

"You did great!" Young told his girlfriend when she ran up to him, their fingers interlocking.

"I just kept thinking of you!" Alexandra laughed as she drew her lips closer to Young's.

"Ew." Angie said when she looked up from the ground to see them kissing first thing.

"Tell me about it, babe." Jacque said with greater disgust than she.

"SECOND TEAMS, GET ON THE STAGE!" Chris shouted through the megaphone.

Chloe walked up to the back of Young. "So, you want to go next- Oh! Um, maybe we'll go next time." She said to herself when she saw the couple kissing.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"Aw! Those two are, like, the only canon couple this season has so far!" Chloe gushed. She clasped her hands together and looked a little day-dreamy. "I wonder if I'll get my own ship... that would be so cool!" She looked at the camera. "I'm not saying I like Marshall- because I hardly know him- but for the record, that emo hairstyle looks adorable on him."  
_*End Confessional*_

"You wanna go up?" Angie asked Ace.

Ace shrugged and smiled down at her. "Might as well, I suppose."

"Um... hey, Tabitha, you're really into this acting stuff, right?" Marshall asked Tabitha. "Do you want to go up this round?"

"No way! You have to save the best for last, silly!" Tabitha said matter-of-factly.

Marshall gave a nervous glance to the stage, and out if the corner of his eye he could see Yvette biting her nails nervously.

"Are you nervous?" Vera said behind him, Ray standing next to her. Ray walked past him, but Vera stopped at Marshall's side. Ray rose an eyebrow. "I'll be there in a second." Vera told him.

"Are you nervous?" Vera asked again, looking concerned.

Marshall looked at her for a second. "Um. . . maybe just a little." He said, a blush forming.

Vera nodded. "Well, you don't have to be. I'm sure you'll be fine." She said, before walking onto the stage next to Ray.

"Alright, the scene for this one is easy. The two of you are to act as two people who just got over a fight in their relationship, and are making out afterwards." Chris instructed.

"Wait, WHAT!?" The four people on the stage yelled.

Chris chuckled. "This'll be interesting." He whispered to Chef.

Chef rolled his eyes. "You and your weird obsession for sexual tension." He muttered.

"Alright, the Ants go first this time! Go!" Chris instructed, clicking the stopwatch again.

Vera's eyes widened. She glared down at Ray, who shot his hands up immediately. "I'm not doing anything." He said panicky.

Vera crossed her arms. "This isn't right." She stated, taking her glare to the host.

The timer buzzed, and Chris stopped it, upset. "Ugh, that was horrible! Neither of you did anything!" He complained. "Whatever. Trout, don't disappoint!" He started it again.

Angie crossed her arms, and Ace stood their awkwardly. They were looking at anything but each other.

"Uhh. . ." Ace started to say. Angie looked at him, and he looked at her. Then they looked awkwardly away again.

The timer buzzed again. "Wow, screw you guys too!" Chris yelled. "Neither team gets a point this round, they both sucked!"

"Serves you right for giving us a shitty act, you old freak!" Angie yelled at Chris.

Vera nodded in agreement as she walked down the steps. "That sick pervert..." She looked at the rest of the Ants. "Um, sorry, guys." She said, rubbing her head and looking down.

Yvette nodded. "It's alright, it was a bad topic."

"Don't worry guys, I'll make up for it on my turn for sure!" Tabitha said confidently.

Scott raised an angry eyebrow at Ray. Ray nervously shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Come on guys, what was that!?" Yuki yelled when Ace and Angie got back. "Couldn't you have just kissed on the cheek or something?"

Angie glared hard at Yuki, and stomped over to her. "Listen, how about _you_ go making out with some dude you don't know, just because someone told you to? Doesn't sound so easy, huh?"

Yuki didn't say anything back. Angie 'hmph'-ed and walked away. "That's what I thought."

With Angie gone, Yuki started shaking with her fists clenched, eyebrows creasing.

"Next group," Before Chris even finished his announcement, Yuki grabbed Williams by the arm, pulling him towards the stage.

"Ah- hey! What the hell are you doing?" Williams yelled angrily, yanking his hand away from Yuki.

She whipped her head up to the emo boy. "We're going to win this." Yuki said confidently in the most serious face she's had yet.

Williams looked at her quizzically, studying her. He smirked. "Fine, better hope you can follow through with that."

"Um... T- Tabitha?" Yvette asked quietly to Tabitha. "Do you want to take this turn?"

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"I- I know I'm on tv in front of millions of people and stuff, but it's easy when you can't see them!" Yvette was shaking badly, tears of worry starting to prick in her eyes. "I- can't act at all, and especially not with everyone looking at me!"  
_*End Confessional*_

Tabitha scoffed. "I already said that I'm going to go last!" When she saw Yvette starting to tear up, Tabitha's expression lifted just slightly. She nodded. "Ah, stage fright, I've seen it in so many Freshmen in my drama class." She tsk-ed before putting a hand on the albino's shoulder. "Don't worry, no matter what, you can't do worse than that tall girl and guy with the sunglasses. The worse kind of actors are those who don't act at all!"

Yvette wiped her eyes. Tabitha let go of her. "But of course, the best kind of actor is _me_, and we have to save the best for last! So get that guy with no depth perception and haul your butts to the stage!"

"I can hear you, you know." Marshall said unamused, hardly a few feet away. He turned to Yvette with a sigh. "You ready?" He asked, sounding apprehensive.

The small albino paused, before she nodded. "As ready as I can be. . ."

"I better not get another disappointment this time!" Chris shouted. "Anyway, this round you have to act out a fight scene in a bar setting. Trout, GO!"

Williams stood, thinking. He got interrupted from his thoughts when Yuki kicked him in the shin.

"I shaid not ta look at me man!" Yuki said, swaying a little.

_*Confessional: Yuki*_  
"At a bar you have to be drunk, right?" Yuki asked.  
_*Confessional: Williams*_  
"GOD. DAMN. How can such a small girl kick so hard!?" Williams said, holding his leg.  
_*End Confessional*_

Williams groaned over his shin before bolting upright. "Why would I!?" Williams said and pushed Yuki over.

When the timer chimed, Chris stopped it and said, "Hm, impressive! But Williams, don't you feel a little bad for pushing a girl over?" Chris looked at him quizzically with a smirk. Williams looked angry at the question.

"But she kicked me f-" He started to say.

"We planned this scenario already!" Chloe butted in. "Before we started we said that if there's a fight scene, one person would be some random person and the other would be a really touchy man!" Everyone raised their eyebrows at her. "So, in the scene, Williams was actual pushing down a guy!"

Tabitha clapped her hands. "Ha! You guys sure were in character! It takes a lot to look past what you actually are to be in character..." She nodded in understanding. "I guess I can look past your team's conspiring if it was to make an _okay_ performance, you newbies probably needed it anyway."

Williams was confused, but he shook his head. "Uh, right! Yep, that was our plan all along."

"Interesting." Chris said. He clicked the watch again. "Go, team Ants!"

The two went into shock for a second. "Uh... uh..." Marshall stuttered.

"Uh- I- I'm going to punch you...!" Yvette said weakly, making a fist and touching Marshall's arm with it.

Marshall took a second to realize that she already started it. "Oh, um..." He paused, bringing a hand to the touched arm. "... Ow."

The timer buzzed, and Chris stopped it with a blank face. "Wow. Alright, I think we can agree that team Trout won this one."

"Woohoo!" The Trout cheered. When he got down there, Williams gave Chloe a thumbs-up.

"Thanks for that." He said.

She nodded. "Anytime! Don't worry, I know that Yuki can get a little... enthusiastic with her kicks."

On the Ant's side, Scott face-palmed. "You all just lost the challenge."

"Oh? I didn't see you win anything." Marshall muttered, still shaking a little.

"Don't worry guys, because now it's my t-" Tabitha started to say.

"Because of the failed round two and team Thrashing Trout has already won by two-out-of-three there's no need for a round four!" Chris told the cast. "The Trout win this challenge!"

Tabitha's eyes widened.

"Guess you wish you didn't insist on being last, huh?" Casper asked her sarcastically. He looked a little concerned when she didn't move.

Suddenly Tabitha's face twitched. "U- uh- wwwwwaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Tabitha began to bawl. Casper jumped back, shocked. Tabitha fell to the ground and bawled loudly.

"Yeah! Two wins in a row!" Alexandra cheered, holding Young's hand.

"Not just yet!" Chris said. "You win a bag of popcorn each, for the final challenge of today that will decide which team will have to vote someone off!"

"Wait, what?" Ace said, a little disappointed.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
"Just when I thought I wouldn't be targeted at again for almost losing the challenge... again... it turns out we didn't actually win yet?" Ace said to himself. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, exasperated. "Jeez, if I keep letting my team down, I'll likely get kicked off soon... I'll just have to make sure I pull through the next challenge!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"So, when it gets dark, I want everyone to get in their pajamas and meet me at the cafeteria!" Chris said with a smile and started walking away. Chef's eyes widened and he followed after the host.

"Wait, you didn't tell me about this, what are you going to do in _my_ building!?" Chef called after Chris.

The contestants stared at each other in different forms of worried and confused expressions.

/


	5. Movies at Midnight Pt2

**Erg, I had to rewrite this chapter, like, three times and I'm still iffy about it. Oh well, I'm not going to make you guys wait another month while I try to figure out how to fix it. In fact, if you can point something out (besides the awkward scene switching, 'cause I know that one already) about this chapter that I could improve on, let me know!  
On another note, since this is the first chapter a character that is not my own gets eliminated, I was thinking that maybe every three/four eliminations I should write an Aftermath episode? Let me know what you think.**

"Can't believe these jerks... making me move my tables..." Chef loudly grumbled at one end of the cafeteria. It was much more spacious now that the two long wooden tables had been moved out, and the sixteen teenagers made themselves comfy on the floor.

"Hatchet, stop complaining like these teenagers and do your job!" Chris yelled as he shoved a finger in Chef's direction.

Chef responded with a big grunt and turned back to hanging up a big white sheet at the front of the room. He imitated the host with a stupid face when he thought he wasn't looking.

Chris shook his head with no amusement. "You'd think I would get some respect around here." He muttered under his breath.

"Tell me about it, Chris!" Tabitha's voice said. The camera zoomed back to show that she was on her knees, clinging to the host's legs. "He's taking so much for granted, that rude spatula-wielding cook! By the way, you should totally let us finish the acting challenge!"

"I already told him we'd move the tables back, but _no_." He turned to the intern at the back of the room, who was fussing over a projector. "Make sure you play those tapes in order-"

"Yeah, he should totally be more patient!" Tabitha interrupted. "You know what would probably teach him? If we finish the acting challenge."

Chris ignored her. "I'm pretty sure they're all already fast-forwarded to the title screens-"

"Plus, Chris, you should definitely let us finish the last challenge-"

"No!" Chris yanked his legs away from her, and she face-planted into the floor. "Your team lost by a landslide, now stop asking about it or I'll eliminate you from this one!" Chris stomped up to the front of the room where the sheet was set up, and pointed Chef to go behind the counter into the kitchen.

Chef Hatchet slouched as he shuffled behind the counter and Chris cleared his throat.

Ace's gaze flicked to Tabitha, who was laying lifelessly on the floor. "Um, Tabitha, right?" He rose a hand to poke her, but drew it back. "Are you okay...?"

"No." She answered angrily. She was wearing matching blue singlet and shorts that had a white Eiffel Tower pattern, and black fuzzy slippers.

Ace's eyebrows lowered in concern. As he was instructed to do earlier that day with the rest of the contestants, he wore his pajamas as well- his consisting of a silver shirt and yellow shorts. "Oh. Um, well, are your hands getting any better, at least? I noticed that your bandages aren't on anymore."

Tabitha rose her head to look at one of her injured hands. Her fingers were still covered in nasty cuts. "Huh, I guess they aren't." She rested her face on the floor again. "'Guess the chipmunks I fought ripped them off in battle."

"I- I see." Ace gave her a quizzical glance. "Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"You trying to get me kicked from this challenge too!?" Tabitha shot up and grabbed him by the collar. "You think you can butt me out of this one too? Well, you've got another thing coming! This girl won't let a challenge get the best of her this time, no sir, not again!"

Ace shot his hands up. "Oh! G- good! Same here, same here- just, uh, replace the girl with boy, heh."

Tabitha held him in one hand, brought up two fingers with the other, pointed them at her eyes, then at him. She let him go.

"Good luck with the challenge." He told her with a small smile.

Tabitha gave him a look. "I got my eyes on you, you Trout-conspiring-tyrant."

Ace's smile grew slightly and he thumbed-up to her.

"Do you not know how suspicious that makes you look!?" Tabitha yelled.

"Do you mind!?" Chris yelled from the front. "_Anyway_, if the interruptions are done- I'm looking at you, _Tabitha. Williams_."

Jacque, in a white t-shirt and black shorts, was stomping out a small fire on the floor with his bare foot.

"I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED." Williams screamed as he tried to beat off flames on the legs of his own black shorts and purple-grey tanktop.

"Use this, HURRY!" Marshall ran up in his Colorado Rockies T-shirt, with white boxers and socks. He handed Jacque a plastic cup filled with water, who took it quickly.

"Good, hand it ov-!" Williams was starting to tell Jacque to pass the cup to him. He instead got drenched with it.

The plastic was crushed and dropped to the floor by the dark-skinned man. "What? Worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess. Even though only my _clothes_ were on fire, thank you very much." Williams said as he rang out a clump of his black hair.

Ace blinked, face completely blank. He leaned over to Angie. "W- what just ha-"

Angie looked over in surprise- Ace noticed that she was handing her jacket to Casper.

"... What're you guys doing?" He asked without thinking.

Her surprise melted from her face as Angie rolled her eyes. "This idiot just realized he walked into public in only a pair of boxers and goggles. He wouldn't stop bugging me about letting him use my jacket to hide his skinny shame."

"Hey!" Casper said defensively as he put on the black bomber jacket. "It's not my fault I was so busy hiding!"

"Oh, from that guy who doesn't give a shit?" Angie asked sarcastically. "Listen, if that thing gets even a speck of dirt, I will throw everything you own into the ocean." She shoved a finger into his chest. "Got it?"

Casper gulped. "Y- yeah."

Angie didn't seem pleased, and flicked him in the nose. It was only after he let out an 'ow' did she finally say, "Get lost."

Casper scooted away. Angie sighed in irritation, now only having a huge men's t-shirt as her pajamas. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ace still there. "What do _you_want?"

Ace shook his head, trying to remember. "Oh, I wanted to ask how Williams managed to start a fire on accident?"

Angie looked at him in confusion, then looked over at the guy in question. Williams was sitting down now, being yelled at by the host to pay attention. "I don't see anything on fire." She stated.

"I-" Ace put his chin in his hand. "Never mind."

"Now if we're all done?" Chris said bitterly at the cast. Now they were all finally silent, and the host began the instructions. "Now, this challenge should be fairly easy. All you have to do is sit there and watch our movie marathon. But, if things get too real for, or you don't pay attention, _or_ you fall asleep, you will be forfeited from the challenge. The team that has the most people still in at the end wins. Simple enough? Good." Chris asked and answered for the teenagers.

Chloe was shaking in excitement, the two girls sitting with her- Yuki and Yvette- cocked their eyebrows at her with smirks.

"Omigosh!" Chloe turned to them in her Mario-styled onesie. "A challenge where we just have to watch movies? Guys, I'm totally going to win this!"

Yuki mirrored her friend's excitement. "I know, right! We got this challenge in the bag!" She was wearing a pink nightgown and Yoshi-styled slippers.

Yvette squeezed her anime-styled fox plushie tighter.

"O- oh, Yvette! Don't worry," Chloe said when she noticed her new friend's discomfort, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "If we're in the challenge, so are you!"

"Yeah!" The gamer girl did the same. "You don't have to feel bad 'cause we're on different teams! We even get to sit together!"

Yvette's face started to flush a dark red. She sighed in relief when Chef came back from behind the counter with eight bowls, distracting everyone with an alluring smell.

"And these," Chris motioned at the bowls being passed to each member of the Thrashing Trout. "Are the rewards for the winners of the last challenge." He headed for the doorway. "With that, let the challenge begin!" He walked out, then put his head back in. "Chef, guard the doorway to make sure no one tries to come back in after they leave."

Chef grumbled and shuffled outside.

"Don't start complaining!" Chris's voice shouted.

"I didn't say nothin'!" Chef Hatchet yelled back.

Yuki fisted a handful of the popcorn. "It actually seems... kinda good!" She raised it to her mouth, then looked over at the only one of their trio that didn't get a reward.

"Oh, here!" She nudged her bowl closer to Yvette.

Chloe swallowed a mouthful before doing the same. "Oops, sorry, should have offered mine sooner! Try some, it's actually digestible!"

Yvette drew up her knees in an attempt to hide the somehow-growing blush on her face. Her long white pajama top and long grey bottoms were not doing much for her pitiful appearance. "Y- you guys..."

The two girls giggled at the albino.

"Those girls sure sound happy." Ray noted aloud as he watched the friendly display. His pajamas consisted of his red undershirt, grey sweatpants, and his sunglasses.

"Heh, you don't know the half of it." Vera said in amusement, now wearing a white t-shirt and black flannel pants. "Inside the cabin they were so excited over each other's pajamas."

Angie, now sitting leaning against the back wall near the two, scoffed with the mention. "'Oh my god, look at those overalls- look at those Yoshi's- look at that fox!'" She mocked.

"Yeah, pretty much like that." Vera said, but her face showed she was a bit displeased with Angie's comment.

"That sounds like them!" Ray responded to the punk girl's joke. Vera looked at him with her displeased expression, but he didn't notice.

"...Ray, can you see anything?" She ended up asking.

His eyebrows raised, and a smirk grew slowly. "Only faint silhouettes in front of the screen. You have full right to call me a douche for keeping my shades on at night."

"I wasn't going to ask for permission." Angie cut in before Vera could answer.

"Just, uh..." Ray shifted in worry. "Please don't tell Scottie over there about my immobilizing myself. He already got on my case about the whole us failing the last challenge."

Vera's eyes flicked to the man in question. He was not currently doing what he was best at, but was trying to chat up Young and Alexandra while the intern fussed over the projector in confusion. "I really hate that guy..." She muttered. "If he bothers you, let me know, okay?" She told Ray calmly.

The boy's smirk turned into a small smile. "Ah- alright. But you don't have to worry about me, y'know."

Vera gave him a small smile in return, but then remembered he couldn't see it and put on a relaxed face. "Maybe I just want an excuse." She said bluntly.

Ray did his best to hold back the laugh that came to him at the idea of Vera beating down on Scott in an alleyway somewhere.

"That sounds like one heck of a first date!" Scott told the couple. He sat on the floor in red shorts and a dark blue tanktop.

"It really was!" Alexandra said as she held Young's hand, looking at him dreamily after just retelling their first date memories to Scott. Her pajamas consisted of a lilac nightgown and her dolphin necklace.

Young did the same, wearing a white t-shirt and red shorts. "And from that day I knew soulmates really exist." He said more to his girlfriend then to Scott.

Alexandra giggled happily.

"That's so sweet." Scott said with a smile to the two.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"Now I know to cross those two off my 'possible flirt' list." Scott told the camera grudgingly. "And I only rarely cross people off the list. The only other person was this chick at my school I learned was my first cousin and no one told me." A slight shiver goes down his spine.  
_*End Confessional*_

"So, why did you two decide to sign up-" Suddenly the speakers were alive and the screen had color projected onto it. On it was the title of a popular horror movie.

There was a mix of cheers and groans from the contestants.

"Alright! Movie marathon, bring it on!" Chloe cheered. She looked over to see how Yvette was faring with the movie selection. The albino did not seem enthusiastic in any sense of the word, causing Chloe to pat the girl's shoulder. "C'mon, Yvette, we'll make it though together, right?"

"R- right!" Yvette said happily with the encouragement. "You guys really are too good to me, you know..."

"Nonsense! Right, Yu- uh...?" Chloe looked over to the gamer girl for reassurance to give Yvette. However, Yvette no longer seemed to be the one of their trio who needed reassuring.

_*Confessional: Yuki*_  
"I- I'll be fine! As long as- as long as this movie isn't too graphic, I'll be perfectly fine!" Yuki tried to reason, rocking herself a bit.  
_*End Confessional*_

"I've seen way better effects than this in a movie before." Williams stated to himself as some of the first simple jump scares made almost all the contestants startled. The only ones who hadn't jumped were Williams, Jacque, and Angie. "How can anybody fall for this crap?"

"Let the weak-minded have their fun." Jacque answered absent-mindedly as he cleaned his nails. He only occasionally looked up at the screen so he wouldn't get kicked from the challenge for not paying attention.

Alexandra and Young held each other tightly as the music built up, and relaxed when it proved to be false suspense. They laughed at their tension, which calmed them both considerably.

Eventually, by around the middle of the film, the sound of a chainsaw came from the speakers, and red light flashed over the contestant's faces.

Yuki let out a small gasp. It was all she could muster as she shot up and bolted for the doorway.

"No, Yuki-!" Chloe found herself yelling, but it was too late.

Alexandra looked over her boyfriend's arm and sighed. "What is it, Princess?" Young asked her.

"Yuki already bailed on us." Alexandra huffed as she turned back to the screen, resting into Young's arm.

Young gave a sigh of his own. "Does that surprise you at all?" He asked sarcastically.

Marshall was practically watching the movie through his fingers, if even that.

"Mar-" A finger tapped his shoulder, and the boy yelped and jumped backwards.

Scott looked down at him with wide eyes, then a merciless smirk pulled at his mouth.

"D- don't even start with me, you..." Marshall muttered as he sat back up, glaring at his teammate.

"Me? I'd never do such a thing." Scott said innocently. Marshall gave him a deadpanned look, but Scott only smiled at it. "I was going to ask you to put your hands down, love. Don't want Chris thinking that you're not paying attention, do you?"

Marshall continued to glare at him. "I think I know how to watch a movie." He said- his voice wavered too much to sound like the threat he wanted it to.

Scott continued to give him a warm smile. "Of course, I wouldn't think that you couldn't."

Teeth gritting, Marshall attempted to come up with something to say. However, a loud witch scream blared out of the speakers, and he jumped in the air again. Scott gave a deep chuckle, and Marshall glared down at the floor, a flustered blush crossing his face.

"Alright! Bring on the black magic backstory!" Williams suddenly cheered.

"Whoop whoop!" Ray cheered along.

"Shut up!" Casper yelled, only to get shushed by Chloe.

Vera watched the movie, rubbing her necklace between her fingers. The screams of the actors made her flinch slightly. Without a sound, she stood and headed for the doorway.

"You're leaving already?" Angie asked up to her, being the only person Vera had to walk pass. "Aren't you technically the toughest girl on your team?"

Vera grasped her locket in the palm of her hand when she stopped. "...If I am or if I'm not, we all have our lines to be crossed, right?" She responded in a casual tone.

Angie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Actually, I know. Hell, I have a ton of lines. Assholes cross them all over the place."

Vera smirked and nodded at Angie, who returned the action.

The teenager walked out of the building and sighed. When she looked up, she saw the back of Yuki reading a metal sign that hadn't been there before.

"What does it say?" Vera asked, walking up to it.

Yuki perked up with the company. "Oh! Look, it's super cool!" She moved out of the way so the taller girl could examine it. Not wanting silence, Yuki whispered, "_Read it out loud._"

"'So you bailed the challenge, huh?'" She read from the sign. "'Not all is lost. For until the challenge ends, there are special tokens hidden around the island.'"

"And look at this!" Yuki pointed to the bottom of the sign, where a diagram of three different coins were.

The first one was a yellow coin with Chirs's face on it, titled "The Invicibiliy Token."  
The second one was red with a 'x2' on it's surface. It was called "The Double Vote Token."  
The last one, which was blue, had two arrows going across the coin in different directions, named "The Saftey Vote Token."

"Hmm..." Vera hummed.

"Want to look together!?" Yuki said loudly, shocking Vera.

"Er, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone right now..." Vera told the short girl.

"Oh." Yuki looked disappointed, but didn't argue further.

Back at the challenge, the horror movie's credits started to roll.

"That movie was stupid." Casper grumbled.

"GRAHH!"

"BwahAHHHH!" Casper screamed when Tabitha jumped on his back.

The teens laughed. "But not as stupid as you." Angie said mockingly.

"Oh, Angie, that's harsh!" Scott said in equal mockingness, masked behind concern. He shifted his eyes down at Casper, who moved his eyes away in embarrassment.

_*Confessional: Casper*_  
"So, yeah. I realized about an hour ago that despite how good it felt picking a fight with that sexual harasser, it probably wasn't the best idea." He pulled at the zipper of his borrowed jacket. "I was so busy trying to avoid him on my way here I completely overlooked the fact that I wasn't wearing a shirt."  
_*End Confessional*_

There was a click and a whirring from the protector as the next film began. The screen showed the beginning of a decade old romance.

"Oh! I love this movie!" Alexandra and Ace said in unison. The two turned to look at each other in surprise, then smiled.

"I've seen it five times," Ace said in excitement. "It's the perfect date movie, don't you agree?"

"I've only seen it once, actually! But I love how it ends with the girl finding her-" Alexandra started to say.

"Am I the only one who cares about watching the movie here!?" Chloe yelled. Casper shushed her.

In a quieter tone, Young whispered to his girlfriend, "Y'know, I actually haven't seen this one yet. Was Ace right about it being a good date film?" He asked, playing with her hair affectionately.

Alexandra smiled at him broadly. "Yeah! You'll love it, trust me!"

"I'm sure I will, if you like it so much!" He said back with a smile.

An hour later, the movie was turning out to be mostly romantic drama, all dialogue and no action.

Williams propped against the wall and slowly threw popcorn into his mouth, keeping his eyes on the screen but his attention on catching the food.

Jacque noticed this out of the corner of his eye, took his own bowl of popcorn, and waited for Williams to throw up another piece. When he did, Jacque tossed his bowl at him and snickered when he jumped and missed.

Ray held his head in his hand. He slipped off of it, raising his eyebrows in alarm, then went back to his hand. His eyebrows lowered slowly, and he slipped off his hand again.

Scott was focus deeply on the film, nodding his head as he whispered commentary. "Bad pickup line, bad pickup line, okay pickup line, bad, good, go- oh, I should write that one down!"

Casper stared dead-eyed at the screen, his head jerking up when it had fallen. "Bleh..." He muttered.

Ace watched the movie happily, but was distracted by a low growl. He looked over in concern at Angie, who was pulling at her braids in disgust.

"This movie..." She grumbled.

_"Oh, Jared!" _The woman protagonist in the film called.

"Is..." Angie lowered her head.

_"I can't live without you!" _

"So unrealistic!" Angie shot up and threw her arms in the sheet's direction. "Real girl's do not act like that!"

Tabitha, stretched out on the floor on her side, commented that, "Yeah, but the world would be much more entertaining if they did."

Angie scoffed, and stomped out of the cafeteria.

"I think that the movie's pretty sweet, though, even if it's not very realistic..." Yvette said to Chloe.

The fandom geek reached her hand into Yuki's abandoned popcorn bowl, having finished her own already. "Meh, Angie's tough, but the toughest people are the ones who tend to have the most susceptible weaknesses." A moment passed as normal, then Chloe suddenly whipped around. "Hey... that jerk just forfeited!"

Said jerk read the metal sign outside, and turned to the bored Chef. "So this scavenger hunt has been here the whole time the challenge started?"

Chef shrugged. "Guess so, Chris told me to stay out here and," His voice got a higher pitch as he mocked, "'stop being a baby and do your job.' Jerk. 'Didn't even tell me what there was going to be a second challenge! And he always tells me! Well, he always _did_..." Chef hung his head.

Angie's face was emotionless with Chef's heartfelt confession. "Yeah, sure. So, what's stopping me from yelling into the cafeteria that there's special coins to find when we forfeit?"

Chef shrugged again. "Nothin'."

Angie nodded once. "Respect." She turned away into the woods to begin her search.

As the credits started to roll, the speaker pole outside crackled to life. "So how are my favorite campers faring? We have three people being kicked this time around- from the Ant's side, Casper and Ray-"

"N- no! Isa... I'm'a wake..." Ray slurred, snapping his head up.

"Huh, really? Hard to tell. Alright, but let it happen again and you're out! And from the Trout's side, we have to get Young outta the challenge." Chris ordered.

"Huh!?" Alexandra shot up and shouted at the sky, since she didn't have a body to yell at. "What do you mean, he watched the whole thing with-" She turned to look at her soul mate, and found him leaning his head back, fast asleep. She nudged him in the chest, and he startled awake.

"Whuh- huh?" He asked up at her.

"We have to leave the challenge." Alexandra sighed to him, giving him a hand.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Williams questioned as the couple headed for the doorway. "The girl didn't get kicked-!" The two left before he could finish, and Williams's face grew sour.

"Don't get butt-hurt about it," Chloe told him over her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure she'd give up any challenge to stay by Young's side. Same for Young for her, too."

Jacque chuckled. In his best woman voice, he said, "Oh, I can't _believe_ I have to work with someone but my Hun-bun! Ugh, I'm just going to give up the act and make_Jacque_ do all the work!"

"I think she wasn't the best actor because she had to work with _you_." Chloe scoffed at him, turning her head back to the front.

_"Oh snap!"_ Tabitha chanted, proceeding to rapid-fire a rain of snapping fingers as Jacque glared at the back of Chloe's head.

Yvette wasn't focused on the current drama in the room. She was explaining to a yawning, stretching Casper that he had to leave the challenge. "You fell asleep, so Chris is making you leave."

"What happens if I just stay here?" He questioned glumly.

The small girl looked at him with an expression that told him that she had no idea. However, that expression suddenly changed to surprised as her eyes moved to the doorway, and she pointed at something behind Casper. "Umm..."

The boy slowly moved his head, his face falling in fear. Chef only had half his face showing from the outside, visible eyebrow in a huge scowl. He held up a shiny kitchen knife. "Not tonight, boy. Not tonight." His low voice rumbled.

Visible shivers shot through the two. "Welp! I'mma go now! Bye Yvette!" Casper said as he shot up with a smile of fear and hurried out.

"S- see ya!" Yvette called. When she sat back next to her friend, Chloe had a smirk on her face. "...What?"

"Oh, nothin'." The two fell into silence, and Chloe whispered. "You two should go to the docks together sometime. You'd make a nice _ship_."

Yvette choked in her popcorn. _"Chloe!"_

"What?" Chloe shrugged smugly. "I'm just sayin'!"

"That's not- _I'm_ not- I like-" Yvette tried desperately to admit why she didn't like what Chloe had said, but in the end no words came out. She rested her chin on her knees in defeat.

Chloe laughed lightly and patted her on the back. "Ah, don't worry, I know you don't like him. Don't listen to me and my fangirl-ish ways!"

Yvette smiled at her softly.

Scott, interestingly enough, was not focused on the current drama in the room either. With a rough nudge, he made Ray jolt into the air. "Do you mind actually pulling your weight?" He said grudgingly.

Ray looked over at him in alarm. "S- sorry. Romance is just hard for me to focus on-"

"Ray." Scott said seriously, turning to the boy. "Read my lips: I do not care. Do I care about you? Of course! But I don't care for how you're not taking these recent challenges seriously. Get your head in the game-" Soft music played from the speakers now, as a black-and-white image appeared on the screen. "And don't let me down again."

Scott turned back towards the screen, and Ray let out a sigh as he rested his head on his hand again.

"Did you find anything?" Young yelled up to his girlfriend, who had her arm halfway inside a hole in a tree.

"No!" Alexandra sighed. "What about you?" She asked him while he was lifting up a rock.

"Nope..." He dropped the rock when there proved to be nothing there. Alexandra slid down the trunk of the tree and landed on her feet at Young's side.

She smiled at him as she took his hand. He smiled back at her as they took off to search another part of the woods. "So you're not... mad at me?" He asked as they ran hand-in-hand.

Alexandra gave a happy laugh. "Of course not! This is way more fun!"

They ran past a path, of which Angie was on. "Yo, yo! Watch it!" She cried as they busted out of the shrubbery. They flew over her without recognizing her presence. Standing up, she brushed off her shirt-pajamas. "Is everyone here an asshole?" She mumbled to herself angrily.

"Possibly so." Vera answered, walking down the path from the opposite direction. She smirked and lowered an eyebrow. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you technically the toughest girl on _your_ team?"

Angie waved a hand at her. "Oh, spare me. You couldn't pay me to sit there and watch the rest of that shit."

_*Confessional: Angie*_  
With her arms crossed, she explained, "Normal girls don't act like the girl in the movie! Well, the girls back home act quite a bit like that actually, but I'm here to get away from their air-headed idiocy!"  
_*End Confessional*_

Vera dropped her mocking expression. "But in all seriousness, why did you leave?"

Angie cocked her head to the side. "Ugh, it was a stupid romance."

"You left because of a... romance?" Vera pressed.

"Don't give me that! Lines and crossing those lines, remember?" Angie spat defensively.

Vera nodded. "Alright, if you say so."

"Are you going to be okay, Ray?" Marshall asked the boy carefully, tapping his shoulder. "That was pretty harsh, but not too surprising considering the guy who dealt it." His words came off bitter.

Ray bobbed his head up. "Yeah..." He yawned. "This movie is really taking a number on me..."

"I meant are you okay about Scott? I saw that he was on your case." Marshall corrected.

"Scott? Don't worry 'bout that, Vera said she's got my back." Ray yawned again, his words fading off.

Marshall looked at him in concern, then looked over at Scott- who's eyes were fluttering as the guy tried to focus on the subtitles. "Hypocrite..." Marshall hissed quietly.

Tabitha tapped her foot impatiently, cheek resting on her fist as she once again laid on her side. "This is the most boring movie to have ever been created." She stated to whoever was listening. The girl promptly stood up and left, the only Ant's in the room awake enough to notice being Marshall and Yvette.

When it came to the Ant's, Jacque seemed to be the only one who wasn't dozing off somehow.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
"How recently was this movie made? They keep talking about pigs and such, which makes me think it's pretty old, but I can't tell by how much." He rested his hands on the counter and leaned back. "I've been told that how good the coloring is, the newer, but that doesn't really help when you're colorblind."  
_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"Okay, this is just a flat-out hilarious movie. I know the language the movie is speaking in, and let me tell ya, the subtitles are way off- probably for the best, I don't think these babies could handle this intense storyline."  
_*End Confessional*  
_  
Credits started to roll eventually, and Yvette smiled over to Chloe. "Heh, looks like you made it!" She giggled at how hard Chloe was forcing her eyelids from closing.

Said girl smile sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Being free from having to focus on the boring movie, she already seemed to be more awake. "Whew, do I wanna know how you managed to stay so perky through all that?"

"Oh, well, I just thought it was really thought-provoking. The way they had to save their farm and all, I though it was pretty cool." Yvette explained.

Chloe smiled. "Well, I guess you needed the brain food, 'cause you finished off all my popcorn!"

"And that wraps up the third movie!" Chris voice yelled in from the speaker pole outside again. "This one was the big-hitter, taking out Scott, Williams, and Ray! We're at a two-three tie with the Trout in the lead!" The speakers from outside clicked off.

Marshall nudged Ray. "Sorry man, you have to leave."

"H- huh!? Oh, god-" Ray worried as soon as he woke.

"Whosuwha!" Scott shouted as he was lightly kicked awake by a groggy Williams.

"Get outta here." Jacque said for everyone, pointing towards the doorway in disinterest.

Ray paused, and leaned to Marshall. "Is Scott out too?"

"Thankfully, yes." Marshall replied, with his bitter tone back.

"Oh thank god." When he stood up, he asked downwards, "Where's the door?"

"In... front of you?" Marshall answered questioningly.

"Thank you!" As the other two kicked out were already cleared of the cafeteria, Ray headed for the door, ran his face into the doorframe, waved Ace off when he jumped up to see if he was okay while the boy rubbed his nose, and left the building.

"...You know, everyone here is so weird, I'm not even going to ask anymore." Marshall said, and the two girls in the room nodded.

"Yeah, but I kinda like it." Yvette said, peeking up at Chloe while she wasn't looking. "I've never met people quite so interesting before."

"Ha, tell it like it is!" Chloe laughed. "That's what this show is know for, whether it be for the better," Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe looked at Jacque, "Or worse."

Jacque looked up from the uninterested stare he was giving his nails and brought it to the girl. Chloe looked away.

Jacque opened his mouth, but then closed it. He instead smirked, standing up. "Hey, where are you going!?" Chloe shouted as he headed for the door.

"I can tell when I'm not wanted." He said, smirk even smugger.

"Don't use that as an excuse!" Chloe said angrily.

"Hold on, hold on." Ace, who hadn't sat back down, moved in front of Jacque. "Let's just hold on a second guys, no need to get-"

"Out of my way, small fry." The brown-skinned man pushed Ace with one hand, who stumbled backwards. Jacque's smirk only grew as he followed Ace out.

"That was uncalled for." The skinnier boy brushed off his shirt and began to step back inside. All he got was a run-in with Chef's thick arm.

"Ain't nobody comin' back inside!" Chef Hatchet yelled down at him.

"I-!" Ace was about to protest, but peering up at the adult's glare and the sinking realization of what his co-Trout had done made him turn around. "_Sigh_..."

"Next time don't try to stop me." Jacque responded, pride evident on his face.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"I hope he tries to stop me next time, too." Jacque said with a cruel smirk. "That idiot just made it so much easier to get me the chance to vote off the geek." He held up his finger and thumb to show the amount.  
_*End Confessional*_

Ace peered over to him. "... Y'know, you really should try to get along with the team-"

"Tell me when I look like I care." The more muscular one stated. His eyes trailed over the metal sign as Scott dragged Ray into the woods roughly by the arm.

"Come on, we don't have much time to lose!" Scott yelled.

"What happened to being inconspicuous!" Ray yelled back in protest.

"Hmm?" Jacque moved in front of it. After a few seconds, Ace walked over in curiosity as well.

"What does it say-?" Ace began to ask.

He got interrupted by a loud '_bang' _as Jacque punched the sign and ran off.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"You mean this whole time I was wasting my time while there were these priceless tokens laying around!?" Jacque screeched in fury, throwing another fist at the wall.  
_*End Confessional*_

Inside, Chloe held her knees and stewed over what Jacque had done. Now it was just her, Marshall, and Yvette.

"Hey..." Marshall tapped the girl's shoulder. Before he could continue, Yvette interrupted.

"Don't let that jerk-wad get to you!" Yvette said boldly.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
Blushing hard, the albino rubbed the back of her head and looked down. "Wow... I can't believe I just said that... I should thank Casper for giving me that line."  
_*End Confessional*_

Both Chloe and Marshall looked at the small girl in surprise, which made her shrink back with a growing blush.

Chloe couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Wow! Alright- if you tell me to, Yvette!" She wrapped an arm around her friend to show her appreciation. Her laughter went to a dead stop as she glanced back up to the screen, however.

"No..." Chloe's gave went pale as she stared up at it.

Marshall followed her line of sight. "Twilight...?"

"No!" Chloe scrambled out of the building before any protest could be said. "Never again!" She could be heard screaming from outside.

Suddenly the screen showed a quick flash of different scenes of the Twilight movie, and then scene from another one flashed by as well. "It was just a trailer..." The intern in the back muttered as he fast-forwarded through.

"And thus, our challenge is completed! This marks the first victory of the Wrathful Ants, and the first time I get to say: All Thrashing Trout, meet me at the elimination ceremony!" The speaker pole outside said. Before it clicked off, he added, "Also, stop searching for those tokens, now that the challenge is over, all the ones not found are being collected."

The two Ants still left stood up. "Well... I guess we did it." Yvette stated.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"I really hope they don't vote out Chloe for losing the challenge, or Yuki for being the first one to leave." She tilted her head down, a soft red creeping up onto her cheeks. "They're both such great people... I'd hate to see either of them go."  
_*Confessional End*_

"Yeah, I guess." Marshall dusted off the back of his pants. "At least Scott can stop getting on my case- I mean, our case." He quickly added, "So what was the whole token thing about that Chris mentioned?"

Yvette shrugged at him as they walked out of the cafeteria. The contestants were all walking in different paths, the Ants towards the cabins, and the Trout grudgingly to the elimination bonfire.

"So, did you find anything?" Casper asked Tabitha.

Tabitha threw her arms into the air. "Oh, look at Mr. Nosy over here! I did not, I'll have you know, but it's not like I would tell you even if I did! What about you, huh?"

Casper shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nope." His eyes suddenly widened as he swiveled around and ran to the other path.

"Angie!" He said as he caught up to her. She turned back with a slight glare. "Relax, relax, I just wanted to give you this back." He withdrew his hands from the pockets and took off the jacket, handing it back to her.

"Oh, right." She put it on over her pajamas, and added, "Now, if I catch any funky smells on it, I _will_ make you wash-" She was interrupted by Yuki when she shoved past. She gritted her teeth. "Whatever, you know the drill, I say something threatening and you do my bidding."

"Yeah." Casper was unamused, but preferred to get the encounter over with than argue about it. He turned around and quickly tried to get to the boy's cabin now that he was topless again.

"Jason," Alexandra began to ask. Young looked at her. "I've been wondering, why don't you just go by your nickname from back at home?"

"You mean go by Jay? There's already a Ray, and I wanted things to be as least complicated as possible." Young answered.

Alexandra nodded. "Oh, okay. That makes se-" She was interrupted as well by a rushing Yuki. The girl stopped in their path at what seemed to be a second's notice.

"Have you guys seen Chloe?" The short girl asked.

"No." Alexandra said bluntly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was the last one out, because she really likes movies, right?" Young said, not catching his girlfriend's annoyance.

Yuki shook her head in thought. "Yeah, but that just makes me more worried... Oh well, thanks anyway!" She turned and began running up the path again.

Marshall walked down his path, catching little bits of conversations as he walked. Eventually he leaned to Vera, asking, "What are they all talking about?"

"Probably about the coins." Vera said, darting her eyes around at the others.

Marshall blinked. "What coins, exactly- hey!"

Vera grabbed his arm and yanked him into the shrubbery the moment no one was looking.

"_Now_ what's going on?" Marshall said in confusion as she pulled him away from the others by a good few feet.

She put a finger to her lips and opened up her palm. In it laid a red coin. "I found this, it let's your vote count as two."

The boy stared at it in interest. "Whoa, so I guess these things are worth talking about..." He moved his eyes to her face and asked, "But why are you telling _me_ this?"

Vera pocketed the double vote token in her flannel pants. "When we get the chance, I want you to help me vote out Scott. Just in case, next time we lose, I want you to vote for him. Will you?"

Marshall scoffed and turned away. "Don't worry, I was planning on it in the first place."

Vera grunted in affirmation and followed as he began to walk in the direction of the cabins. She looked at him curiously. "Hey Marshall, you're not upset about the acting challenge, are you?"

"Yeah, a little." He admitted, his bitter tone once again resurfacing.

Vera reached a hand for his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Marshall. You won this one, which is what matters-"

"No-" Marshall whipped around, knocking off her hand. "What matters is that I can't do anything right when it comes to actually _doing_ something! All I had to do this time was sit around and watch something, of course I could do that! But could I pull through with something that I took several classes for, like acting? Nope, not me!"

"Just calm down, man. Nobody said you had to be good at acting." Vera tried to say.

"_I_ said I have to be good! But that's hard when I can't perfect anything, no matter how hard I try." Marshall stressed.

Vera grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You can't perfect anything, Marshall." She told him. The boy tensed to have someone actually say it. "But that is_okay_. You're good at knowing stuff most people don't- I heard about your magic show. We all got stuff we're good at, and yours is knowing stuff." She let go if him and continued walking. "And mine is anything in the water, and keeping my head."

Marshall shook slightly, but took a deep breath. "Y- yeah... and keeping mine, too." His visible eye widened as a small blush crossed his face. "Uh, you didn't hear that, right?" He asked desperately, running to catch up to her.

"Hear what?" She asked.

"Good." Was all he said.

Inside the woods, Chloe walked, glancing around unsure. "I already voted in a confessional, but where the heck is the bonfire at?" She kept walking, and found herself in the clearing with the 'easy' obstacle course from the first episode.

There were no animals in it now, and the course's wood creaked in the night's wind. "Okay," Chloe said to herself. "If I'm here, then the bonfire should be-"

_"What is _she_ doing here?" _A stranger's voice asked.

_"The forth wall should have stopped her." _Came another.

"Ah!" Chloe jumped and looked around quickly. There was no one in sight, and the voices were too loud to be coming from the trees surrounding the clearing.

_"What do we do?" _One said almost desperately.

"Sh- show yourselves!" Chloe yelled, backing towards the course. "Where are you?"

_"Guys, don't worry, this one is Chloe."_

_"Which one is Chloe, again?"_

_"The fandom geek, idiot."_

_"Guys, the point is that she won't be on the show for much longer, so we don't have to worry too much about this."_

_"Oh, right. But still, don't let them come back!"_

Chloe's back bumped into one of the courses, and she swiveled around to face it. "Alright, you're all probably in there somewhere," She yelled up at it. "So cut it out-"

Just then every obstacle course disappeared. None of them slid into the ground like the landscape of Pahkitew, nor did they vanish in a cloud of smoke. Chloe didn't even blink- they all just disappeared as if they were never there.

"But I-" Chloe took a step back. "I just... touched one..."

{At the Elimination Ceremony}  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

"What's that?" Young asked as the all looked around for the source.

The source jumped out of the woods, screaming wildly, jumped onto Williams head, and refused to come down for a good three minutes.

"Get off!" Williams finally grabbed her and flung her around, setting her on the ground in front of him angrily. "What the hell was that about!?"

"NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING." Chloe yelled as she curled in on herself.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"Disembodied voices in the woods?" Chloe laughed hysterically. "What disembodied voices in the woods? You're talking crazy!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"Are you sure you don't want to tell us what's wrong?" Ace asked Chloe in concern a minute later, now that the girl was slightly more relaxed and sitting next to Yuki.

"There's nothing wrong!" Chloe said too forcefully.

"She probably got scared by a squirrel and is too embarrassed to admit it." Angie scoffed.

"Hey!" Yuki said defensively. "No one asked you!"

Angie glared at her, and this time Yuki glared back.

"Why is it always distractions with you kids!?" Chris yelled at them. He snapped, both bringing the ceremony to order and calling up Chef with his plate of seven marshmallows.

"Alright, you know the drill. Marshmallow means you're safe, no marshmallow means you're gone. Now," He grabbed a marshmallow off the platter.

"Williams"

"Alexandra"

"Ace"

"Young"

"Chloe"

"Angie"

The last two still left were Jacque and Yuki. Yuki looked surprised at her standing, but then mirrored the boy's unconcerned expression.

"Jacque." The host tossed the final marshmallow to Jacque, who caught it with continuing unconcern.

Yuki stared at him in pure shock, eyes wide. "I... wh- who!?" Yuki shot up from her log and swiveled to the others. "What did I do wrong!?"

The others mostly just avoided her gaze. Chloe was looking at the others accusingly as well, her eyes catching a smirk directed to her by Jacque.

"I- of all the people here, you voted me off?" Yuki looked towards the ground in hurt, then shot her head up at the team. Her glare was mostly pointed to Angie, however. "Fine."

She stomped towards the docks, and stopped by the host. "Thank you so much for letting me compete, Chris," she shot one final glare at the others. "And forget you guys for ruining that chance!"

When she got on the yacht, Chloe took a step onto the dock. Yuki noticed, and her scowl turned into a small smile. "Bye, Chloe. See ya later."

Chloe gave her a small smile in return and waved as the boat took off. "Good bye, Yuki! I'm glad we met!"

"Me too! Tell Yvette I told her good bye!" Was the last thing she got to say as her voice faded.

Chloe dropped her hand and sighed.

**The Votes:**  
Young: Yuki  
Alexandra: Yuki

The two huffed lightly at their first failure on the show. "Well, there's no doubt about it," Young began, "We're going to be voting off Jac-"  
"Yuki." Alexandra said instead, earning her a look from her boyfriend.  
"But, Alex, he's completely sketchy!" Young protested.  
"I know, I know, but I think we should save him for a later date. To be honest, I didn't really know what I was doing up on the stage without you there, and he kinda won the round." Alexandra explained to him.  
Young sighed and kissed her on the forehead with smile. "Fine, you're just lucky I don't like Yuki much either."

Yuki: Angie

"She can be so mean for no reason!" Yuki stressed. "She's the only one here I got beef with, so my vote is gladly going to her."

Ace: Jacque

"For once I don't feel like I completely messed up the challenge!" Ace cheered. "But then there's the fact that I got kicked out of it because of Jacque, who has a weird way of carrying himself."

Angie: Yuki

"Can you say 'annoying?' If given the chance, I'd vote her out for a better reason, but right now this is good enough for me."

Chloe: Jacque

Chloe crossed her arms as she stared in thought. "Whatever this weird vibe I get around this guy is, I don't like it! And let's not forget how he gave up the challenge like that. If you ask me, it was like he was trying to make us lose!"

Williams: Yuki

"This is honestly a hard vote. I like Yuki, don't get me wrong, but she's just so hyper. Plus, my leg is brushing now from earlier today thanks to her 'enthusiasm.'"

Jacque: Chloe

"I'm not an idiot, I know this chick is in my case. The sooner she's gone, the better."

**The Tokens:**  
1 Double Vote Token: Owned by _Vera_  
1 Invincibility Token: Owned by _?_

**Contestants:**  
The Thrashing Trout: Angie, Ace, Jacque, Alexandra, Chloe, Williams, Young

The Wrathful Ants: Scott, Casper, Ray, Tabitha, Yvette, Marshall, Vera

Eliminated (in order): Cathy, Yuki


	6. eheheheh

**Guys! **

**Go to my profile! **

**Follow those links! **

**Tell me what you think!**

**If you're reluctant to do so, they show you the pictures I drew of each OC. I really really hope you all like them!**


	7. Dance Dance Regretolution

"Where is it!?" Casper stressed as he rummaged through the pockets of his sweater, glass vials clinking onto the floor of the cabin as he tossed it around in his hands.

"Muh... where is _what?_" Marshall groaned as he flopped over and shoved his face into his pillow.

"I, er-" Casper looked up to see the other male contestants- too early in the morning for any of them to have left yet- either staring down at him quizzically or purposefully ignoring him. "I-" He looked to the side, and suddenly put the sweater on. "Nothing, I don't need it." He swiped his hand down and grabbed the chemistry instruments off the floor and stuffed them back in place.

"I would hope so." Scott said bitterly as he drew his attention away from the boy and tried to fall back asleep.

"Yeah, 'cause we all know how much you need your beauty sleep, huh?" Williams scoffed as he swung his legs out of his bottom bunk and stood.

There were snickers all around the cabin, and Scott peeled his eyes open enough to look at him. He gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Beauty is mostly in genetics, my friend. Sorry to break the bad news to ya." He shut his eyes again.

Suddenly a loud, collective "OooooohH!" sounded out of the others as Williams started to challenge Scott to face him.

Jacque snickered at the commotion with his eyes closed, stretched out on his back. Hands behind his head in relaxation, he muttered, "I feel so at home..."

_*Flashback*_  
_The cabin was mostly dark, and the bodies of the boys were all fast asleep. That is, until one of Jacque's eyes shot open, and he looked around to make sure the others were unconscious._

_He slipped out of bed and began to shuffle around the cabin, rummaging through everyone's stuff. The camera showed that at long last, when he held up Casper's sweater and felt inside a pocket, his face cracked a wide smile._

_When he brought his hand out, between his fingers was a yellow coin. He flicked it into the air triumphantly and caught it, before placing everything as it was and going back to his bunk._  
_*End Flashback*_

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"Y'know, I almost feel bad for taking advantage of these kids when they're already making it so easy." Jacque mocked as he flicked the invincibility token once again.  
_*End Confessional*_

At the girl's cabin, Chloe was sitting on the side of Yvette's bed, giving her the play-by-play of the Thrashing Trout's elimination. At the end, Yvette hung her head. "Wow, I- I didn't know your team disliked her so much... She- she was so nice!"

Chloe nodded her head as she patted the girl's back. "I know, I know. But on the bright side, she wanted me to tell you she said goodbye."

"She... she said that, without you mentioning me? Like, from her own worry?" Yvette asked in surprise.

Chloe nodded to her happily. "Yep, you're our buddy we can't be with all the time, so we gotta keep you on our minds." She tapped her head to make a point. "We may be separated by teams and elimination, but we'll stick together!" She tapped Yvette's head lightly. "Got it memorized?"

Yvette giggled. "With such a blatant Kingdom Hearts reference like that, how could I not?"

Their conversation was interrupted with Tabitha dropping her head down from her top bunk. "I heard out of context that you'll stick together?" The interrupter said. "So now I know something is going on!" She brought a hand down, pointing it at the albino. "You're on my team," She brought it to Chloe, "and _you're_ not. So either the fish is double-crossing her team, which pleases me, or my fellow bug is double-crossing our team, which makes me feel extremely betrayed! So which is it!?"

The two glanced at her, before Chloe crossed her arms. "What's wrong with being friends despite team difference?"

Tabitha brought her other hand over her bed to give the geek an upside-down shrug. "Man, I'm jus' doin' what I do. If you want me to get really crazy, then maybe I'll get into character for you and let you see-" Tabitha gasped. "That's it! I know how to liven this whole show up!" Her enthusiasm made her slip off of her bunk and hit the floor.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"You have to wonder when all of this pain will catch up to her." Chloe looked to the side in wonder. "Though she is the kinda person that tends to still try to take the stairs when she's in a full-body cast."  
_*End Confessional*_

"Er... how's that?" Yvette asked her slowly.

Tabitha sprung up. "I'll be one of those people with too much pride that makes them legitimately hate the other team!" She smiled broadly and clasped her hands together. "This'll be so fun! Thanks for the idea, Chloe! Or, should I say," Tabitha cleared her throat before screeching, "ARE YOU TRYING TO FILL MY HEAD WITH YOUR LIES, TYRANT!?" As she ran out of the cabin, she screamed, "Team Ants forever!"

The other girls of the cabin that hadn't left yet only caught the end of the that conversation out of context.

"Well, I guess she really puts the 'wrath' into your team, huh?" Alexandra said in shocked amusement as they watched through the window Tabitha run and kick Williams in the shin.

"Why is it always me!?" They could hear the skater boy yell as he held his newly wounded leg. The only other sound they could hear was Scott dying of laughter.

"Angie!" Casper sighed in relief when he found the girl sitting in the cafeteria by herself. "Thank god you wake up early." He said, sitting in the spot across from her. He gave an odd look at her food.

"...What?" She finally asked, putting down her spoon.

"Nothing, just... I have to wonder where the flies went?" Casper reached into his sweater and pulled out a concoction. "Well, this still might improve it."

"Thanks." The punk girl took the vial from him. "Chef and I got some mutual respect now so he made me some 'good' food," She lowly added, "But it still tastes like barf."

Casper shook his head suddenly. "U- um, did I leave anything in your jacket by accident?"

Angie checked the pockets, and the only thing she had in her hands was the object he just gave her. "No." She looked at him with squinted eyes. "Why?"

Casper groaned into his hands. "I can't believe I lost it... Whatever, thanks for your time." He got up out of the seat, and Angie's eyes followed him.

"It's a little excessive, but whatever." Vera's voice said as she began to enter the cafeteria, tables back in place, with the drama girl.

"Whatever is right!" Tabitha said with her hands in her hips. "Because the only thing worth talking about is how amazing our team is!" When her eyes crossed over Angie, she opened her mouth.

"Oh please no." Vera said in monotone as she grabbed the actor's mouth and drug her unwillingly to the serving counter.

Tabitha made several fist-waving gestures at the punk girl as she did so. Angie calmly ate a bite of her food before pointing her spoon at her. "Does she have some beef with me or something?"

"No." Vera answered as she repositioned the actor to be restrained with her other arm so she could get her tray. "As far as I can tell, nothing with Tabitha is personal."

Outside, a traveling Ray was surprised when a hand was set on his shoulder. "Hey, Ray? You know that whole Scott thing?"

Ray pushed up his sunglasses when he looked up at the boy. "Er... yes?"

Marshall looked inexplicably smug. "We got it covered."

"...'We?'" Ray asked slowly.

Marshall only patted the boy's shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry 'bout it- just know that he'll be taken care of."

Marshall continued on the path as Ray began to slow. When out of sight of the taller boy, Ray's eyebrows knitted in concern.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked as he passed by.

The short one snapped up. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, just that fight this morning was a bit too real for me!" He lied.

Ace nodded. "Oi, one or two I could deal with, but I think all these tough guys in one place are going to cause some trouble." Looking to the side, he added, "Ray, I gotta say something. I think Jacque will probably end up being a lot more trouble than he's worth."

"Why do you say that?" Ray asked a bit too quickly.

The tanned one shrugged. "He was being really sketchy last night. He just seems kinda dangerous."

The cameras showed a flashback of Jacque threatening Ray two episodes ago, then back to the present, of which Ray seemed to be contemplating.

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"I honestly know that guy is not safe to be around, he makes it kinda obvious." Ray still held two fingers together, however, eyebrows lowered.  
_*End Confessional*_

"I think you're reading him wrong." Ray said kindly. "Sure he's tough looking, but I'm positive he's not dangerous."

Ace shook his head slightly. "I want to believe that, but..." He contemplated himself about last night.

"Ace, I'm sure you have him all wrong! Why don't you try getting to know him?" Ray smiled up at Ace. "Tension between two people _is_ what stunts most relationships, experts say."

"I suppose some actions could be less hostile then they seemed..." Ace shrugged. "Perhaps I'll talk to him." He smiled down at Ray.

Ray smiled back enthusiastically. "Let me know how it goes!"

Ace nodded and continued on, and this time Ray stopped all together. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyebrows knit together in worry this time.

Meanwhile, Marshall, cheerily heading for his next meal, was suddenly knocked over the head.

"Oh my god! I am sooo sorry!" Young and Alexandra said in unison as they ran up to him.

"Aaah..." Marshall lightly seethed as he rubbed his head.

"Are you alright?" Young asked in concern as they neared.

Alexandra picked a round object off the ground. "I swear I don't usually trip like that!" She looked up at Marshall. "I am SO sorry!"

"Well that's one way to knock a guy off his high horse..." Marshall gave a small snicker. "Guess I needed that, eh?"

Young raised a brow slightly. "I wouldn't- I wouldn't know." He answered in confusion.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Alexandra asked as she stood up, holding a coconut with a face on it in one hand. The same confusion as her boyfriend was there.

The guy scratched his head. "Yeah, I'm sure." Suddenly, he perked up, and a small blush tinted his face. With an awkward smile not meant for either of the two, he waved and said, "I gotta go... find someone. See ya'." He didn't wait for them to say goodbye.

The couple looked at each other curiously for a second, but it melted away when Young smiled down at the object in her hand. "So, I guess Mr. Coconut is more dangerous than we knew?"

Alexandra nodded and held it up. "It was a wonderful surprise, finding you out there in the woods, but your power is too great." She made a mock sniff. "With a heavy heart, we must depart!" She threw it over her shoulder.

Intertwining their fingers immediately afterwards, Young said with a giggle, "That rhymed."

"I know, and it was awesome!" Alexandra said back with enthusiasm.

Before the two could reach the mess hall, the speakers poles crackled to life. Chris seemed on top of the world when his voice said, "Campers, meet me by the cabins for our next challenge in about... Right now! If you aren't there in five minutes, I will immediately send you home! Thank you."

"What!?" Young said in surprise. "He gave us way more time yesterday!"

"We didn't even get to eat yet!" Alexandra huffed.

Stumbling out of the building, a gagging Yvette tripped out of the building and kneeled over some bushes. When she stood, she informed, "Trust me, you don't want to eat!"

"Ah, it wasn't _that_ bad!" Chloe said from behind her.

Holding his stomach, Marshall groaned, "Of all the times for Casper to lose his potions..." He looked over to said boy. "Is that the thing you lost this morning?" Marshall inquired as the contestants began to travel back to the cabins.

"Um... yes." Casper said uncertainly.

"Next time," A queasy Vera said, putting a hand on the chemist's shoulder. "Let us help look and save us this misery." She gave him a joking smirk.

Marshall's eyes widened, then they quickly snapped away with a grumble.

Casper looked over, to see the punk girl giving him a quirked eyebrow death stare, knowing that he had lied. He gulped and turned away.

"It wasn't actually as bad today, though!" Ace said, stretching in contentment.

Scott, wiping off a disturbed expression from the day's breakfast, gave his attention to the tanned boy. "Oh, do you think so? Well, as long as somebody enjoyed it." He winked at him. "And it might as well be you, cutie."

Ace's face paled.

"Scott!" Ray butted in.

"Oh, yes?" Scott said, not seeming to appreciate the interruption.

"Um..." Ray cocked his head to the side, seeming apprehensive, then muttered, "I, uh... d- don't want to sound weird or anything, but I wanted to say... I- I think you look nice today..."

Scott's entire posture brightened, and he beamed down at the boy. "Why, thank you_very_ much!" He leaned down. "You don't look too bad yourself..."

Ray smiled a quivering smile as Scott tried to inch himself towards the short boy, and said short boy tried to inch away without Scott noticing. Ray gave a small thumbs-up to Ace around the flirt.

Ace smiled back at him. "Now I feel a bit guilty..." He muttered. When he turned his head, he saw Williams walking within earshot. "Excuse me, Williams?" He called.

"Huh?" Williams said, looking up.

"Do you know where Jacque is?" Ace asked.

"Do I look like I would know?" Williams scoffed. "It's not like I keep a record of where every dude in this place is at any given time."

"Ah, uh, t- thank you anyway..." Ace said.

Meanwhile, at the back of the pack of contestants, the only thing keeping Tabitha from attempting to maul someone of the opposite team was Yvette, keeping her in a carefully-planned conversation.

"Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you this!?" Tabitha hissed. She made a wide, exaggerated gesture to the nearest Trout, the couple. "They are the scum of the Earth," She made wild hand motions between herself and the albino. "And we are god's handmade doilies of life's china cabinet! What else do I have to explain to you!?"

Yvette's eyebrows were creased as she tried to come up with something on the spot to keep the actress occupied. "Okay, I think I get you, but..."

"But. WHAT." Tabitha rolled her head back as she groaned these words.

"But, um... what COLOR doilies are we?" She questioned uncertainly.

Tabitha stared at her blankly. "Green. Dark green."

"But, you see, I would much prefer to be a red doily instead." Yvette continued to stall.

Tabitha grabbed her shoulders and looked Yvette straight in the eyes. "Then go after your dreams. Ants can do whatever we put our minds to." She said, being dead-serious.

"Why are we talking about grandma activities?" Williams said to the two, turning his head towards them.

"O- oh no!" Yvette yelled as Tabitha's pupils dilated, but she couldn't catch her as she jumped at him.

"H- hey!" Williams yelled, grabbing Tabitha's arms before she could strike at him. Still attempting to punch him, he barked, "What is your problem!?"

"How dare you insult our metaphors!? Leave it to someone like _you_." She snarled.

"Like _me_?" Williams snarled back. "You little runt-!"

"Obviously he wasn't there when I said it wasn't personal." Vera joked lightly to the extremely freaking-out Yvette.

"Wow," Chris's voice suddenly said, stopping most of the commotion (plus Chloe having to explain Tabby's inexcusable actions to the emo boy, who just swirled Tabitha's arm around and nudged her away when he realized it WASN'T personal.) "Leave it to me, having to make _threats_ to get you kids to hurry up." Chris had a smirk as he shook his head mockingly.

"Oh, shut up and get on with it." Angie growled.

Jacque, who was there already when the others showed up, smirked at her. "Aye, don't get so feisty, babe." He said, making Angie practically growl at him.

"What's up with this extremely early challenge?" Alexandra asked bitterly, putting her hands on her hips.

Chris laughed. "Well, we finally got the green light for this new... um... _resource_ that we've recently acquired, and we just can't wait to test them out! So come on, I'll explain the challenge as we walk."

"This challenge is all about dancing!" Chris said cheerfully as he lead the teens through the woods.

"You have to be kidding me!" Casper and Vera complained in unison. Once again, Marshall seemed a bit too aware of this and stared at Vera while her attention was on the host.

Chris just beamed. "I bet you all wish I was! But, nope! Too bad for all of you. But anyways..." They reached a wide, expansive clearing, that had nothing in it but short grass across the whole thing. "This field will be your dance floor! They way we'll do this is that a screen with your teams on it will be displayed here," He motioned to two interns rolling said object on a stand over to them. "It will show you the percentages of how many of your team members are dancing. If all of your team is dancing, then it'll be at one hundred percent, and if someone stops or starts, it'll change accordingly."

"How the hell are you supposed to tell who wins with that?" Angie questioned.

Chris nodded at her. "You see, at any random point I'll stop the challenge. I could stop it five minutes in, or five _hours_. When I do, the current score will be frozen, and the one with the highest will win."

"That's dumb." Half of the contestants told him.

All the host did was smile at them. "Let the game begin!" Instantly, the screen, which must have doubled as a boombox, blasted music out of it as the screen displayed the symbols of the teams, a '0%' under each. Chris was noticeably unaffected by the sound, while the interns around him had to keep their hands over their ears in pain from the jarring music.

The teens moved towards the center of the field as to not have to hear it so loudly.

"I say we all riot and just sit here." Casper offered to the others hopefully.

The couple looked at him, looked at each other, smiled, then began to bob to the beat. "No way, we won't give up one this easy!" Young said as the screen changed to have a '29%' under the Trout.

Ace smiled at the two and began to wave his arms to the music. "That's easy to say when you have some one to dance with!" He joked.

"I prefer techno, but whatever." Williams said as he moved his arms to the music. "This is more like upbeat generic movie soundtracks."

"That's my kind of music!" Chloe cheered as she raised the roof.

"_Well,_" Scott began to his team. "Don't just stand there!" He followed this up with some smooth moves.

"Heh, as you say!" Ray said happily as he gladly began a disco pointing dance.

"I- I don't think..." Yvette stuttered as she backed away from the crowd of teenagers.

"Noooo!" Chloe called, holding her arm out to her. "C'mon Yvette, do the sprinkler with me!" She said as she joined the small girl slightly away from the others.

"I- well..." She couldn't help but smile at Chloe's purposefully lame dance moves. Yvette weakly danced with her, blushing.

This did not last long, however, due to Tabitha getting between them and pushing them apart. "We need separation here!" She yelled as she grabbed Yvette and drug her away.

"Hey!" Chloe screamed as she ran after her. But after a minute she stopped and bent over, not having nearly as much energy as Tabitha.

"She's only making herself a liability to us with her antics." Vera, doing an awkward semi-tap dance, informed the geek. "Don't let her make you one to your team by playing along. I have a feeling she'll let go of Yvette soon anyway."

Huffing, Chloe looked up to see that Vera was right sooner than she thought. The actress had let go of her friend already, and was now attempting to strangle Ace's leg while yelling, "MESS UP MESS UP MESS UP YOU FLOUNDER."

"I- UGH! I'm so sick of her..." Chloe grumbled, walking over to her friend.

"Angie?" Alexandra asked in concern to the only one of her team that decided not to dance. "Are you alright?"

With her arms crossed, she said, "No! If you ask me, we should have gone along with Casper's plan from the start." She growled.

"We may have a small lead at the moment, but the scores are practically even," Young informed the punk girl. "We could really use your help, y'know."

"I couldn't care less about the challenge." Angie stated, steeling herself.

Before either of the grooving couple could continue, Jacque butted in. "Let me talk to her." He said simply, sounding sure. His dancing consisted mostly of swingy arm motions.

"If you think you can..." Young muttered as he and Alexandra moved away.

"Hey babe." He said down at her, dodging her immediate fist to his chin.

"Get outta here before I shove one of your limbs down your throat!" Angie threatened him angrily.

Jacque's smirk just grew. "'Sounds kinky. Why don't you just move that body of yours, huh?" He said this almost mockingly.

"How's _this_ for moving?" Angie brought her boot down on his sneaker.

Letting out a small squeak of pain, he grabbed her jacket and smiled cruelly down at her. "I think you don't know what a threat _is_, girl. So let me make this clear: You aren't going to touch me when it comes to the battle for that money. So either be my ally, or else."

"Gah!" He accidentally yelled when she brought her finger on his pupil. When he let go of her to instinctively cover his eye, she swiftly brought her boot up between his legs and left him on the ground, withering in pain.

"How did we go from eighty-five percent to fifty-seven!?" Young questioned fearfully when he checked the score.

"T-that would be me!" Ace called to him, trying to carefully pull off an over characterization-obsorbed actress from his leg.

On the other team, Marshall was only barely moving. He was too busy watching Casper, who wasn't dancing. "Hey." He said, trying to get his attention.

"'Sup." Casper said back. "Did you know that I hate this challenge?"

"I don't think anyone is supposed to not hate a challenge." Marshall tried to joke, but he sounded too serious. "This may sound, like, really weird," He blurted, "But you don't have a thing for anyone here, do you?"

Casper's face showed that it was indeed really weird. "Heck. No."

"Okay. Okay, that's good." The Jack-of-all-trades said, relieved.

The chemist just looked flat-out confused, until he followed Marshall's blushing line-of sight, and brought his face back to him wiggling his eyebrows teasingly, making Marshall's blush cross his whole face.

"Eh, she's cute." Casper shrugged. He looked over at the two friends trying to forget a certain other girl. "And I may have lied. There's someone I might like _a little_."

This time Marshall looked over, and teasingly nudged Casper with his elbow. "Join the unsure-affections club; members, you and me."

"You two!" Scott suddenly whirled around, pointing a finger at them both. "If you don't start grooving, we'll be seeing you on a boat tonight!" He lightly warned them, pointing to the screen that now said: "Ants: 57% Trout: 71%"

"Just, stop... bothering us!" Williams grunted as he held Tabitha back, finally getting the timid boy out of her reach.

"I WILL make sushi out of you if you don't release me!" Tabitha continued to struggle.

"Then make sure I'm delicious." He added sarcastically as he dragged her away.

"That would be mine." Vera stated as she tapped over to him.

"I don't know if you can- take her." He said, trying to keep her from elbowing him in the stomach.

"Trust me, I'm the Tabitha keeper around here." Vera grabbed the girl from him. "She didn't cause too much trouble, did she? I'll try to make it up to you if she crippled your team."

Williams just rubbed his head. "Nah, 'just took Ace out for a bit. Also, Jacque has a limp or something now, but I don't _think_ she was around him."

Vera nodded at him. "Just let me know if your team suffers from her, and I'll stop dancing to make up for it."

Williams seemed shocked at the offer, and waved her off. "Serious, it's fine. Just keep 'er under watch."

"You guys talk like I'm a dog!" Tabitha barked. Then there was a quack.

"Whoa, nice impression!" Williams said in fake-surprise.

"That wasn't me." Tabitha stated

"That, my friends, means it's time to find a partner!" Chris said into a megaphone. "If you don't buddy up during these short time periods, then you won't be counted on the score." To show this, he motioned to the screen, where the scores went back to zero due to no one dancing hand-in-hand. "And there's a heightened chance that the challenge will be stopped during one of the time periods, so I suggest you take it seriously!" He put the megaphone down and whispered to the camera, "There's really no change in chance."

Alexandra and Young were more than glad to take part in it and grabbed each other's hands, laughing as they spun each other around.

"Crap." Was Williams's only commentary. Vera sighed and grudgingly let go of Tabitha, who sped away immediately.

"This is dumb... Anyway, want to?" She asked the boy, not looking at him.

"Location, location." He muttered as the two began to awkwardly dance with each other.

_*Confessional: Vera*_  
She scratched her head awkwardly. "Williams seems pretty cool, I guess. I can name other people I would rather be dancing with, but I'm afraid if I went looking for hi- one of them, I'll just be assaulted by Scott or some other douchebag."  
_*End Confessional*_

In the background, Marshall stared hard at the two.

"You'll burn holes in her head, love." Scott teased behind him.

"Don't. Call. Me. THAT." Marshall seethed, not looking around.

Scott, once again, ignored Marshall's venom with a chuckle. "Why are you so angry with me lately?" He side-stepped around Marshall until he was in the boy's sight. "I'm sorry I haven't been paying you as much attention lately, if that's what's upsetting you." Scott said so deeply it was practically a mutter.

Marshall's face contorted into pure disgust. "_Look,_ get this through your _thick skull: You haven't been away from me_ enough!"

The Player's eyes widened for a split second, but rested in an even more relaxed position. A laugh that sounded more breathy than anything came from him as he tilted Marshall's head up by raising a finger under the boy's chin.

The freckled boy was obviously ticked, raising his hands to push him away for good.

However, Scott grabbed them, and shoved his lips over Marshall's.

_"SCREW that guy!"_ Vera hissed the second she saw Scott on her friend. Williamsdidn't understand what was happening by the time she yanked away from their dance towards the two men.

Williams cringed as he watched Vera stomp on the back of Scott's knee, and covered his eyes as she punched him square in the jaw when he crumbled to the ground.

_*Confessional: Williams*_  
"Usually I don't cringe for others' sakes, but I was really expecting her to kick him in the nuts. I'd cringe for any man that has to take a hit like that."  
_*End Confessional*_

"AHHHH!" Marshall shrieked, the shock of the action wearing off. "What the hell- the hell!?" He looked like he was about to kick Scott while he was down, but stomped the ground instead.

"Erg- that was unnecessary!" Scott shouted up to Vera.

"_Was_ it, you sick fu-" Vera shouted back.

"Why- WWHHHYY!?" Marshall, tears filling his eyes, stormed off.

Vera ran after him. "Marshall!"

"What did I ever do to this world!?" He yelled to the sky, voice cracking horribly.

"Mar-shall!" Vera called from behind him, "We're going to fix this right now, you hear me?"

The boy scrubbed at his cheek, tears of frustration falling down his face. He didn't dare look at her.

"You just sit tight." She instructed. "I'm not going to let this go on any longer."

"Ray." She stated, walking up to the boy letting Chloe twirl him around.

"What's shaking?" He asked, looking over to her dark expression. "Well, obviously not you, heh! But seriously, what's going on?"

"Stop dancing. We're going to fail this challenge on purpose." She thrusted a thumb in Scott's direction. "_That douche _decided to molest Marshall, and we're not going to let him get away with it. You in?"

Chloe let go of Ray and stared up at Vera in shock. "Whoa, what? Dude, that's not cool!" She looked down in thought. "I'll go tell Yvette for you, if you want."

Vera smiled at her. "Thanks, the sooner we lose, the better."

Chloe nodded. "Leave it to me!"

As she walked away, Ray stammered, "Yeah- yeah! Of... _course_ I'll help you guys!" He thumbed-up to her nervously. "Anything to get Scott eliminated, because that's what you plan on doing... right?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. Thanks man!" She waved to him as she went to inform Casper.

_"What an idiot... I even warned him..."_ Ray muttered under his breath when she was out of earshot. _"How am I supposed to save this guy's ass?"_

"Yve-!" Chloe stopped in her tracks when she saw Tabitha violently swinging the albino girl around her, Yvette yelling in fear the entire time. The geek paused and pursed her lips together in irritation.

A quack sounded out of the speakers.

"Welp, off to bigger things!" Tabitha chanted, practically dropping Yvette before spinning away.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked in concern, lifting her friend up by her hands.

When she was standing, Yvette held her own shoulders and shook slightly. "Th- that was horrible."

Chloe looked at her in sympathy, but chose to ignore what had just happened. "Hey, so... A bunch of stuff happened while you were- dancing- about Scott doing something and now your team wants to lose on purpose." The geek explained incoherently. "So they want you to stop dancing." She added as an after-thought.

"I don't think I could if I wanted to..." Yvette sighed, holding herself tighter. "I'm just happy my arms didn't get ripped off." She looked up at Chloe, hoping for her to do something comforting.

"Chloe!" Said girl turned around to see Alexandra waving her arms around. "You're not giving up on us, are ya?"

"Oh, n- no!" She called back before dancing again. She looked back at Yvette nervously. "Are you going to be alright? The challenge should be easy for you now, huh?" She tried to smile.

"Uh, yeah! I'll be fine... I'll be fine now." Yvette tried to smile back. "You're not leaving... are you?"

"No, no! I'll stay right here, don't worry!" Chloe looked down awkwardly as she danced next to the standing Yvette.

On the side of the field that most of the Trout were at, Ace's moves started to slow as he looked around. Concern crossed his face as he noticed the silent commotion everyone else seemed to be in.

"Hey... hey, Jacque?" He asked, scooting closer to the man.

Jacque grunted. "What's up? Want me to push you onto the ground this time?" He greeted absent-mindedly. He glanced over at Ace's surprised face and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, _fine_. I'll be pleasant this time around."

"Um, th- thank you?" Ace stuttered. "Er, hey..."

"If you're going to ask me to dance with you, the answer is a 'no' bigger than my dick." Jacque cut in, once again absently-mindedly, as he wasn't even looking at Ace. "And that's a size larger than you can comprehend, _amigo_."

"Gah! N- no!" Ace sputtered. "Jeez! You're really hard to talk to! I don't know if Ray was right about you or not-"

Jacque's brown eyes cut him off as he whipped his head to look at him. "That puny punk was talking about me?" He scoffed, giving Ace a smirk. "Funny, guess I'm the dirt he doesn't want on his own hands."

"What are you even talking about?" Ace asked with a face of confusion.

"Nothin'." He turned his body to face Ace this time. "So what'd you come to talk to me about, huh?"

Ace's eyes widened. "Wait, you're going to actually... _talk_ to me?"

"Not if you're going to make an ass out of yourself!" He snapped his fingers impatiently in front of the boy's face. "_What_ did you _want?"_

"Oh! Uh- uh- What's with everyone!" He exclaimed.

Jacque stared at him blankly.

Ace rocked backwards and let out a painful, high-pitched, _"Amiright?"_

Jacque continued to stare at him.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"I gotta steal this guy from that eel. If there's one thing the midget knows, it's good henchmen material." Jacque said with interest, a hand to his chin.  
_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Scott was the worst choice of alliance ever! God, what was thinking!?" Ray cried into his hands.  
_*End Confessional*_

Jacque chuckled lightly. "Oh boy, where were you when Scott got beaten up by that one chick!"

"Wait- oh! Oh... oh my..." When he was told that, Ace glanced at the other team and finally took notice of how beaten Scott was.

"Yeah, it was pretty hot. But I think I'll pass on the 'tough' girls for now." He smiled at Ace, as if he should input.

"Why put quotations around the 'tou-'" Ace looked upwards as he talked. "Move."

"Excuse me-?" The music everyone was dancing to cut off as Ace shoved Jacque to the ground. An enormous 'thud' cut into the sudden silence, causing all of the campers to turn and gawk in the direction of the two.

Jacque was used to being pushed, but he, too, gawked when he saw a human-sized boulder sitting an inch from his foot.

"Are you okay!?" He heard Ace yell from the other side, barely able to see him over it.

_"Ahem."_ Chris said through his megaphone. "This is no longer a dancing challenge. This is a survival challenge. As long as you are running around, trying not to die, you will be counted on your team's percentage. You may continued." He put it down.

The teenagers stared at one another in a moment of silence.

"Okay, so," Williams was the first to break the silence. "If I die, burn down this island in my name, okay?"

Nods and 'Do that for me too' crossed thoughout the campers before they all started screaming and running away from the growing shadows on the ground.

Scott rolled to his side to dodge what was coming his way, before standing painfully and darting.

Vera watched this in disgust as she too hopped out of the way of the falling rocks.

_*Confessional: Vera*_  
"Gah, leave it to Chris!" She shouted, head in her hands. She threw them down to her sides as she sprung up in anger. "How are we supposed to lose!? There's no way I can convince these guys to not run when their lives are in danger!" She paused, seething. Sitting back down, she muttered a low, "I just don't want to see Marshall- or anyone- get hurt emotionally like that ever again..."  
_*End Confessional*_

"I, want, off, this, SHOW!" Marshall screeched, mixed with terror and fury.

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
"Everything bad is happening at once-!" He wailed to himself.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Where are they even coming from!?" Ace cried when he nearly got his arm crushed.

Williams yanked up a fallen Ray by the arm, the small boy skittering off with a 'Thanks man!' "That asshole is probably dropping them out of planes!" He yelled back to Ace.

Yvette and Chloe were running frantically in circles. "This sucks, this sucks!" Chloe shouted.

"I know, I know!" The albino responded in panic. Due to her last run-in with Tabitha, she had a slight fault in her movements, but she did her best to hide it.

Meanwhile, Casper was getting tackled. "What the hell!?" He screamed, assuming he had been hit by a boulder.

"You were standing there like a retard!" Angie barked at him, grabbing the back if his sweater and hauling him to his feet with her. "What part of 'this will kill you' don't you understand?"

Casper brushed his pants off, taking a quick glance at the sky to see how much time he had to argue, and looked at her calmly. "One, nobody said this will kill us. Two, I was watching because-" He paused, Angie raising a brow. "I think Yvette needs help!" He pushed past her.

Angie groaned in disappointment at his direction.

_*Confessional: Angie*_  
"Let me guess, _he_ wants to be the one to save her." She sighed bitterly. "What a pansy."  
_*End Confessional*_

"I think this might be a little worse than we're making it." Alexandra said as she observed how freaked out everyone was.

Young spun her around and pulled her to him. "Who cares?" The boy teased, brushing her cheek. "If they want to take everything seriously, I say we should let them!"

The red-head smiled, humming as she brought and hand to his face. "If you say so!"

Young smiled at her, and just as a boulder almost crushed them, he side-stepped, dipping Alexandra down. They laughed, and continued to dance.

Tabitha seemed to be getting no luck, for every way she turned a new rock her land directly into her path. After several times of having to skid to a stop and run another direction, she roared in rage and tried to climb one instead.

Chloe caught this out of the corner of her eye, and curiosity crossed her face.

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
"Now that I think of it, shouldn't the field be over-crowded with boulders by now? How do we still have enough space to run-" Slowly, her eyes widened.  
_*End Confessional*_

A shadow started to appear around her person, but Chloe didn't bother to move out of the way. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath.

"AHH! CHLOE!" Yvette screamed, seeing the boulder was too close for her friend to move from. She tried to run towards her, if she could maybe push her out of the way.

"Stop!" Casper yelled from behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders and yanking her back. Right where the small girl was about to run, a rock plummeted into the ground. "Be careful!"

The rock kept Chloe out of Yvette's sight. Chloe didn't know this, for she was too busy staring straight up at the one about to squash her. It got closer and closer, and when she finally realized how bad of an idea this was, let out a quick gasp right before it would touch her nose.

But it didn't.

Chloe shivered, having once again witnessed something completely disappear right before her eyes.

"Ha... ha..." The geek crumbled to the ground in shock.

"Chloe! G- get up!" Yvette tried to run around the boulder when she saw her still intact friend, but Casper held her steady.

"Don't just go charging places!" He begged, "You look like you'll fall over any second!"

"Oh, god." Williams sighed in exasperation. He had been dodging quite well, when he stopped due to Chloe being at his feet. He shook his head. "I guess of anyone to go into shock, it would be you, huh?" He bent down and threw her onto his shoulder before he continued to run.

Angie chuckled under her breath when she noticed Casper awkwardly attempting to drag Yvette with him in his already lame attempts to dodge the rocks. "How are half of these people surviving?" She bitterly muttered to herself.

"Even the guy I kicked in the balls and the guy who got his ass handed to him are making it..." She continued under her breath. Suddenly, she cracked a huge smile and cackled loudly. "Screw this challenge!" She proclaimed loudly. "Chris couldn't kill us if he _wanted_ to!" At this, she plopped onto the the ground. Outstretching onto her back, she added, "I'd like to see the worst he can do."

_BBBBBZZZZZZZZZZTT_

The contestants, at long last, got to stop. Boulders no longer rained from the sky, Chris walking into the middle of the wreckage with a grin.

"And that concludes today's challenge!" The teams looked to the screen to see that the Trout had lost- they had a 71%, where the Ants had a 100%. There was loud groaning from both teams.

"How did you guys lose?" Vera asked sadly to the couple.

They were both too surprised themselves. "I- I don't know. I thought for sure we would get a tie." Young said.

"Who wasn't dodging?" Alexandra impatiently asked the rest of her team.

Eyes landed on Angie, who's expression showed that she was not prepared for this. "I- hold on a second!" She said, standing straight. "Don't blame all this on me! Seventy percent, that means I wasn't the only one!"

Alexandra crossed her arms and looked around. "Alright, then who's the other?"

"Um..." The teens' gazes moved to Williams, who was adjusting Chloe to be in front of him. The girl was mostly limp and had a dazed look. "I'm pretty sure she went into shock, so I carried her for the last few minutes..."

"Ha!" Tabitha laughed, waving a hand in front if the geek's glasses. "She's out of it!"

"You can all play the blame game later!" Chris snapped. "Right now you need to be getting to the elimination ceremony!"

He got a few surprised gasps. "In the middle of the day...?" Ace asked.

Chris nodded. "Hop to it."

/

It was odd, sitting in front of a bonfire while the sun was out. The set-up was also slightly different; instead of having Chris standing in front of Chef, the host was there alone holding the plate himself.

Young and Alexandra held hands as they sat, waiting for the verdict. While they seemed interested in the result, they didn't look concerned. Chloe had recovered mostly from the fright she had gotten, but now she was twiddling her fingers nervously. Jacque, as he had the last ceremony, gave off an aura of 'unconcerned.' Angie had her arms crossed, glaring at nothing in general, but her glare was hard and angry despite. Williams stared at Chris impatiently. Ace kept his gaze downwards, eyebrows knit in worry.

"Williams"

"Alexandra"

"Ace"

"Jacque"

"Young"

"Well this wasn't very surprising." Angie drawled sarcastically. She and Chloe were the two left without marshmallows.

"Please don't ruin the mood." Chris whispered. "The one that will be leaving the island today..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Is undecided!" He shouted with a sadistic smile.

"What!?" Everyone yelled at him.

"There was a tie between the two, soooo... it's time for a little extra, two-person challenge to settle this!"

The punk and the geek glanced at each other. Angie's glare went softer when she saw how nervous Chloe was.

"If both contestants will stand, please." They did so, and stood at either side of the host.

"When did you get manners?" Chloe whispered to him.

Chris paused, but continued with his challenge as if she hadn't asked anything. "After such a physical challenge, we're giving you a little break with a mental one!" An intern came up to them and handed each a small white board and dry erase marker.

"The first person who can answer this math problem while also singing the alphabet backwards will get to stay here! The other, not so much..." Chloe gulped when he said this.

Chris read off the math problem, one that contained more than a few functions.

"Ah- hold on, let me write it down first-!" Chloe desperately scribbled on the board.

"Z, Y, X, W- Done." Angie said, flipping hers around.

"Very good! Now, I'm afraid we'll have to say goodbye to you, Chloe." Chris said to the girl.

Chloe deflated with a huge sigh. "After all the auditions I put into this show..." She muttered as the intern took her board.

"For what it's worth..." Angie spoke up, rubbing the back of her head. She tilted her head towards Chloe. "You weren't the worst person. And I had a huge, unfair advantage on this math problem."

Chloe smiled at her warmly. "Don't sweat it, bro! But, could you tell Yvette-"

"Hold on, chick." A deep voice spoke up. Jacque, ignoring a growl from Angie, walked close and flicked something to the geek.

"Wha-?" Chloe was ready to find something disgusting in her hands, but saw that she had caught a coin instead.

"It seems that Chloe has acquired an invincibility token in the nick of time! By default, that means Angie must take her place as the loser of this round." Chris cut in.

"Huh!? Oh, you little sh-!" Angie shot a death glare at Jacque.

Jacque shrugged. "You didn't side with me, even when I warned ya." The smirk he gave her was condescending to the eighth degree.

Chloe looked between the two, not putting the pieces together quick enough.

Angie shook her head slowly at the man. She turned and got on the yacht with dignity.

As it drove away, the remaining Trout could watch as Angie sat herself down, and grow a smirk.

"I'll take _that_." Chris said, taking the token out of Chloe's hands.

"Uh..." She stood there, dumbfounded, as everyone began to walk back to the cabins. "What... what just happened...?"

Before leaving, Willaims couldn't help but walk over to her. "You were used as a pawn, kid." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I think you should go lay down before you brain explodes."

After about an hour of lazily driving through the ocean, one of Angie's eyes cracked open when she heard a soft sound.

"Uh... hello?" She asked in monotone to the front of the yacht.

"_Sniff... whimper..._" A low voice continued to sob.

The punk girl looked hesitant. Sighing, she stood up and walked to the front of it. Seeing the person, she couldn't help but pause and stare at him. "... Chef? No offense, but what are you doing here?"

The sobbing man looked up at her through tear-filled eyes. "I- I-" He hiccuped. "I don't know! At least in the other seasons when Chris got mad at me, I knew why, and he never kicked me off the _show_ before!"

Angie sat next to the bulky Chef. She just stared at him awkwardly from the side of her eye, letting him continue.

"After I finished serving breakfast, he up and told me he didn't want to work with me anymore! He wouldn't explain why, no matter how many times I asked, and then those suit-y producers took me away!" His cries turned more and more angry as he ranted, sounding more like the angry Chef from before. He slammed his fists into his lap. "And y'know what? I don't want to work with him neither! I'm telling you, Chris isn't the same host that I used to know!"

Angie reluctantly rested a hand on his back when his words turned into seething. "If you ask me," She started, sounding concerned. Then she pulled away. "The first thing you should do is get a therapist." She walked back to the side of the yacht she had been resting in and continued to nap.

"I'm not- I won't- ahhhh!" Marshall paced around the back of the boy's cabin.

"What's the problem, kid?" Chris asked, stepping up behind him.

"Whaaah!" Marshall cried in surprise.

Chris held up his hands. "Jeez, don't get so jumpy! Anyway, I was called over on reports of intense angst coming from..." He waved his index finger around, landing it in Marshall's direction. "You."

Marshall's face burned red as his face twisted into something painful looking. "I- can't stand this! I won't be on a team, or anything of the sort, if I'm forced to play nice with that- that- degenerate!" He hissed.

"Then you're no longer on team Wrathful Ants." Chris shrugged simply.

"You- wait, what?" Marshall's shoulders loosened as he turned to the host in shock.

"I can't have people not participating, can I? Teams purposefully trying to lose is no fun to watch." He took out a cell phone and began typing on it. "Just let me check with the producers which Trout we should switch you out with, and you'll be a member of the other team by tomorrow." He stated as he walked away.

Marshall's face twitched. "Ha- haha! Take _that!"_ He cheered, pointing at the boy's cabin as if Scott could see and hear through the wall. He laughed and danced hysterically outside by himself.

**The Votes**

Williams: Young

"Alright, look, I couldn't care less what people did in this challenge. I'm looking at the big picture here. I could take down everyone here individually, but this power couple are a threat when they're together. When I make it to the final three, the last people I want the other two to be is Mr. and Mrs. Unstoppable."

Angie: Jacque

"What a complete weirdo. Do I even need to explain myself?"

Jacque: Angie

"Trust me when I say that I haven't forgotten about the geek's little grudge against me. BUT, I will literally walk myself into a police station and turn myself in before I let a girl do what she did and not pay the price."

Young: Angie

Alexandra: Chloe

"I really don't think we should hold her responsible for going into shock, though." Young said, the whole beginning of their discussion cut out for time.

Alexandra let out a hum of thought. "I agree with you, don't get me wrong honey, but I think Angie would be more helpful to the group in the long run. I like Chloe, but let's be honest, what is she going to be good for?"

Young gave her a small shake of the head. "But Angie flat-out quit. While she may have more abilities, her lack of team work will probably make her less of an asset than Chloe."

"True... but it still doesn't sit right with me." Alexandra pondered, looking guilty at her own lack of agreement.

"Sweetie?" Young said, causing her to look up at him. He smirked down at her playfully. "You know we don't HAVE to vote for the same person."

Alexandra stared at him, before face-palming herself. She let out a laugh. "Well, that solves it, I guess!"

Chloe: n/a

"You know what? I don't know! I just. Don't. Know, man! Gaaaah!"

Ace: Chloe

"I- I'm not really sure what to make of this whole challenge. I feel like I wasn't really doing all that much in contrast to everyone else- it makes it especially hard to pick a vote. Williams obviously did way more than any of us, Alexandra and Young are both way too nice to vote out, and Ray seemed pretty insistent on me giving Jacque a second chance... The only people left are Angie and Chloe, and I haven't really talked to either of them much. Chloe was the one that Williams had to carry the whole time, right?"

**The Tokens**  
1 Double Vote Token, Owned by: _Vera_

**Contestants**  
Thrashing Trout: Chloe, Alexandra, Williams, Young, Ace, Jacque

Wrathful Ants: Casper, Scott, Tabitha, Marshall, Ray, Yvette, Vera

Eliminated (in order): Cathy, Yuki, Angie


	8. Please DON'T Shine a Light on This

The campers, mid-afternoon, were tucked into their cabins, rain beating down heavily over the island.

"Things sure are roomy now, huh?" Alexandra asked the rest of the girl's cabin as she made her bed.

"Not for the boys." Vera sat at the edge of her bed- formally Angie's, Vera claiming that she liked bottom bunks more and didn't want to raise a fuss before.

Chloe kicked her legs over the side of her top bunk, an empty bed bellow it that used to be assigned to Yuki. "Three eliminations so far, all of which have been girls... We should all be safe for the next elimination, then!" She informed the cabin. "One more girl voted off in succession and the producers will be hearing a bunch of complaints from fans about them being sexist."

"Good to know we're under protection!" Alexandra said happily, sitting down on her mattress when she was done spreading the sheets. "Now I guess all I have to worry about is Jason!" She laughed.

"Oh, don't worry." Vera's deadly tone cut through the mellow conversation. She thrust a fist into her hand. "I know just the boy who's getting kicked off."

The other three went silent.

"Scott got out of hand yesterday, huh?" Yvette spoke up, stretched across the blankets of her own bed.

The brown-haired girl scoffed at the name. "That's an understatement."

Yvette fidgeted. "I'm... sorry, that I couldn't do much."

"It's fine." Vera assured her, doing some shifting of her own, stuffing a hand in her pocket. "All we need to do is lose." She finished, distantly.

"While we're on the topic of elimination..." The pale girl wrung her hands nervously. "And, uh, while Tabitha isn't here, could we maybe consider voting her off soon?" Her question got softer as she asked, barely a whisper at the end.

Chloe snorted in disgust. "_Please_, get her as far away from us as you can!"

"You guys really got the bad end of the team stick, it sounds like." Alexandra seemed shocked.

Vera looked at her small teammate with concern. "She was bothering you during the challenge, wasn't she?" Vera flopped backwards in exasperation. "I'm so sorry, Yvette! I should have been paying attention to her, but I just got so caught up with Scott and Marshall."

"Oh, it's fine!" Yvette assured her with honesty.

"No- I even called myself the 'Tabitha-keeper,' I really should have-" Vera continued as she held her face.

Yvette started to sound worried. "It really is fine!" She insisted with concern. "Really, it is!"

Alexandra chimed in. "Yeah, don't beat yourself up over it. You can't keep track of everybody!"

"At least, not one person on their own, Vera- especially not with your _uncontrollable_teammates." Chloe added, winking at Yvette jokingly. "But speaking of which, you and your man seem to have _our_ team under control, Alexandra!"

A wide smile found its way onto the red-head's face. "Jason and I do what we can." She gushed.

"And speaking of men, _Vera_," Chloe continued, leaning down on her elbow to give the girl a sly smile. "How's that Marshall, huh?"

"I-" Vera cocked her head away. "What?"

Giggling, Alexandra commented on this action. "Aw, she's playing ignorant! Come on, be honest with us!" She pressed.

The girl in question took her time to respond.

"I don't like Marshall romantically." She stated coolly.

"WHAAAT!?" Chloe exclaimed, before letting out a 'PSH!' "You could've fooled me!"

Yvette looked up at Chloe from her bunk. "Do _you_ like anyone, Chloe?" The girl asked quickly.

"Williams was being quite heroic for you yesterday..." Alexandra mentioned teasingly, drawing her attention away from Vera.

"Urm, not really. I'm not much of a 'strong, silent type' kind of girl. To be honest, nobody here has really struck my fancy." Chloe explained.

Vera nodded thoughtfully. "More focus on the game."

"But if we're talking about HEROIC," Chloe flipped to her stomach. "Yvette, Casper was all over you yesterday! Gosh, I've never seen a person crushing so hard!"

Yvette's eyes grew and she tried to shrink away.

"Casper seems like a nice guy." Vera commented, shrugging.

"Y- yeah..." Yvette squeaked, trying to hide her face.

"Let me guess," Alexandra began, "You don't like him?"

Yvette nodded while also holding her hat to ensure they couldn't see her face.

Chloe groaned. "Then I guess the only canon ships coming out of this season will be Alexoung and yaoi. Probably a lot of yaoi."

"Unless if Tabitha has some secret crush we don't know about." Vera snickered.

"Tch, let's hope not. I pray for the person's sanity if she ever tries to woe somebody." The geek rolled her eyes.

"Alexoung? ...I like it." Alexandra hopped off her bed. "I have to tell that to Jason!" She walked out of cabin and onto the porch.

Vera got up with less enthusiasm and stretched. "It may be pouring, but I need some fresh air." She then walked out the door as well.

Chloe stretched and flopped on her back. "Personally, I like to stay in bed when it rains. What about you, Yvette?"

Yvette finally tilted her hat out of her eyes. "It depends on how hard of a day I'm waking up from, I guess..." The albino slid her feet onto the floor, walking to the ladder of her friend's bunk. "Can I come up?"

"NO." As soon as she saw Yvette's shocked face, Chole burst out laughing. "Of course you can!" She sat up and made room for her.

As Yvette climbed the ladder, Chloe mentioned, "Why don't you just switch your bed under mine? I can't imagine why you'd want to sleep below Tabi-jerk."

Sitting besides her, legs drawn up, Yvette answered, "I'm afraid she'll notice and blow up the whole cabin, to be honest."

Chloe cackled. "Oh, that is just too true!"

"Chloe?"

"Yeah, bro?" Chloe responded, wiping a tear out of her eye.

"Have you been," Yvette looked to the side. "Okay, lately?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course!" She scratched the back if her head. "So sorry about yesterday! My brain was just trying to process, like, three things at once."

Yvette's eyes met hers.

"Ha! Don't give me that look, I'm honest-to-the-Tardis fine!"

"Just... if you want to talk, I'll listen." Yvette muttered.

Chloe's face relaxed and she smiled. "Thanks, bro."

The boy's cabin was in fact much more crowded. The only one not present of the eight was Marshall.

"Do you think we won't have to do a challenge today?" Ace asked hopefully as he stared out the window from his top bunk.

Below his bed, Young cracked a smile. "It would be a blessing if that were the case!"

"I wouldn't count on it, not with a bitch like Chris." Williams scoffed. He propped himself up and looked up at Casper, who was laying on his bed. "Did you ever find that thing you were making a big fuss of yesterday?"

"Oh, my- uh- yeah. It was my concoction to make Chef's food taste better. Turns out Angie had it!" Casper laughed nervously, hiding under his blankets soon after.

"Ah, that explains why we were able to choke down his food yesterday." Williams said, laying back down himself. "I was wondering what that stuff was that she poured over our food."

"I preferred not to ask questions. It was too good to be true!" Ace laughed.

Scott laughed as well. "And explains why my team's food quality went down!"

The light mood trailed off at the sound of his voice. "Ha, y- yeah..." Was the best response given.

Scott raised a brow. Shrugging, he stood from his mattress and stretched, speaking up to his bunk mate. "So how did you sleep?"

Jacque held up the bird and cursed him out.

"Jeez!" Scott flinched back. He laughed condescendingly. "See where that attitude gets you come next elimination!"

Ray, above Williams's bunk, slid a hand under his sunglasses. Suddenly, he flipped over and sped down the ladder. "I'm gonna brave the weather you guys- I really gotta use it!" He laughed, stretching his arm over his head.

"I'll go out too," Young spoke up, sliding out of his own bed. "I can see Alexandra going outside!" He said happily, pointing her out through the window.

"Alrighty, then." Ray smiled up at him, throwing his arms down.

Scott heard a small thud from the floor below him.

"One, two," Young counted as the two braced themselves to run for it. "Three!"

They bolted outside. Within seconds, Young ran the distance from the boy's porch to the girl's porch.

"Gah, your lucky your destination was so close!" Ray yelled at him as he ran past the girl's cabin, towards the bathrooms.

Young gathered up a giggling Alexandra into his arms and picked her up. "Good luck!" He yelled back towards Ray.

"So, Chloe gave us a ship name..." Alexandra smiled up at her boyfriend.

Young's eyes widened in excitement. "Oh yeah, what is it?"

Back inside the boy's cabin, Scott bent down, picking up a folded piece of paper off the floor.

_Meet me in the woods. -Ray_

Scott hummed in thought. "Speaking of bad food, I'm getting a bit queasy myself. I'll be back soon." He dismissed himself, heading for the door.

"Priss." Jacque stated.

Scott halted. He stood there before stating over his shoulder, "Society trash." And continuing into the rain.

Minutes after he left, a soaking wet Marshall bolted in, shivering.

"And where have _you_ been all morning?" Casper pressed him as Marshall rung out his bangs.

Marshall slicked his hair back into a quiff. "I've just been attempting to stay out of certain company." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Weak." Jacque scoffed. "Next time try beating him up, it'll take you much farther."

"As much as a fan of violence I am, I say don't do that." Williams cut it. "That kind of punk will probably just moan and whine until he gets his way if you touch him."

Marshall stode to his bunk bellow Casper's. "True, I wouldn't put it past him, but so far Vera's beating on him has gone without consequence." He proudly stated.

"Quit being so cocky, loser." Jacque demanded, propping himself on an elbow to glare at Marshall.

"Pardon me?" Marshall asked incredulously.

"_You_ 'whined and moaned' all of yesterday until that girl beat him up _for_ you, and then you spend the whole day in the rain just because you don't want to face him yourself." Jacque continued, "Your both pampered assholes, the way I look at it."

Marshall sputtered, face going red.

"That was... harsh." Ace muttered after a minute of silence.

Jacque rolled his eyes before laying back down. "'S called freedom of speech. Deal with it."

"The way _I_ look at it is that there's a huge difference between an _assaulter_ and a frightened _victim_. _SORRY _that we don't all fit into your hardened view of the world or whatever." Casper sat up defensively, shooting a look in Jacque's direction.

Jacque propped himself back onto his elbows, looking at Casper cooly.

Ace jumped from his bed. "Guys! Please, we're all upset here, but we don't have to make things harder for ourselves!" From the floor, he held up his hands to the two.

Marshall sprung up, knocking Ace out of the way. "You know what!?" He asked up to Jacque. "I haven't- I wasn't hiding! I just want to make sure- that I don't mess things up!" His face was a pure red. "Yeah- I don't want to mess up mine and Vera's plan!"

Jacque's expression didn't budge as he moved his eyes from Casper to Marshall. "Oh, yeah? Sounds like BS if I ever heard it."

Marshall let out an angry grunt at the man. "It isn't-! We have a token and everything- as long as we lose, we have a double-vote to get him out!"

Jacque rose a brow at that. "That so?" Marshall's flushed, determined expression showed that he was telling the truth. "Fine, you got something up your sleeve. Congratulations." He finished sarcastically.

"Hmph! I can defend myself when I need to." Marshall boasted.

"Yes, the five of us know that quite well now." Ace laughed, lifting himself off of a bed he had stumbled onto when Marshall knocked him down.

Ace looked over to see a fuming Williams. "I'm, um, surprised you had so little to say about this whole fiasco." Ace mentioned to him.

"I was really hoping to see a fist fight." Williams admitted.

"Er... I'm sure you'll get your opportunity at some point." Ace said, trying to be encouraging.

"Could you have picked a worse place to meet?" Scott complained, drenched in rain as he and Ray stood in the woods.

"The rain'll make a good cover in case someone followed us. Hard to see stuff at a distance, even harder to hear. Perfect for secret alliance meetings." Ray explained, arms crossed.

Scott put his hands on his hips. "Speaking of which, I'm going to assume that this is so you can apologize for not helping me yesterday."

"Excuse me?" Ray said flatly.

"That didn't sound very sincere." Scott sighed. "But I'm sure you meant it deep down, so I'll forgive you, just this once."

Ray stood silent. "... You're an idiot." He stated. "Look, I've given you plenty of chances to prove you aren't brain dead, I've given you the best advice I have to offer, but there's no way to get through to you."

Scott looked shocked. "Ray! Where is all this coming from?"

"I'm the only one of our team on your side- the only one not willing to lose to get you out of the game. But if you make one more mistake, I won't be, got it? You're hanging onto the money by a loose thread, and that thread is ME- you make me turn against you, and it's over." Ray threatened.

Scott stared down at him in shock, unsure of what he had just heard.

"I suggest that from now on, when I tell you something, you take it to heart." Was his last comment before Ray walked away.

Scott watched him as Ray walled out of view, and his expression turned sour.

"You're bothering _another_ camera guy?" Vera sighed in exasperation when she finally found Tabitha.

Said actress was attempting to get close to a crew member of the show, and snapped her head in surprise at the girl's voice. "Oh no, don't you dare-!" She shouted as Vera grabbed her arm.

"Th- thank you..." The Total Drama intern cried as Vera drug her away.

Vera stayed silent, ignoring Tabitha complaints. "How am I ever gonna steak a black book at this rate if I can't get on the inside!?"

"Tabitha, _please_." Vera suddenly turned to her teammate. "Can't you calm down and act decent for once?"

Tabitha's eyes widened. She started to giggled- a giggle that turned into a cackle. "But decent people are so boring! I'm doing this show a favor!"

Vera stared at her. "Please, please, Tabitha. This game you're playing is really dragging the team down." She practically begged.

"Woah, woah, woah." The Actress's face suddenly went serious. "Game? Are you insulting me? You think my passion is a game!?"

"No, I think you pretending to hate the other team is hurting out team!" Vera repeated.

Tabitha shrugged. "It's what I do. I won't stop 'till people fall for the act!"

There was a pause. "Is that... so?" Vera said with interest. "Because I'm sure most people are fooled."

There was a sparkle in the other girl's eye. "Really?"

Vera did an exaggerated nod. "Yes, I'm positive that the only people who know it's an act are the people Yvette, Chloe, and I told about it."

"And you are the only three _I_ told!" The girl cheered. "Heck yeah!"

"Will you drop the act now?" Vera asked, smiling hopefully.

"Well duh!" Tabitha yanked her arm away from the other girl, and this time Vera let her.

Vera sighed with relief. "Good..."

"Since I was so good at it this time, I'm going to do another!" She cheered.

Vera's eyes widened. "Oh no- not again!"

"Oh campers..." A voice chimed happily through the air. "You didn't think a little rain would stop my fun, did ya?" Chris laughed.

"Whoop whoop!" Tabitha darted off to the place Chris instructed, and Vera grudgingly followed behind.

Thirteen teens stood outside, some angry at the weather, others glad that the rain had died down to a drizzle. They had gathered in front of the entrance of some sort of cavern, a cool breeze drafting out of the dark hole in it.

"Are you kiddos ready?" Chris teased, looking at the disinterested faces of the campers.

"It looks like you want us to walk through this cave." Casper said sarcastically.

Chris smiled. "Well... you aren't _wrong_."

"Remember," Vera whispered, leaning into the pack of Wrathful Ants. "We need to lose."

All but three if them nodded- Tabitha looked at her in disgust, not knowing the reasoning behind her statement, Ray pushed up his sunglasses, hoping that he looked enough like he was compiling, and Scott, who crossed his arms with squinting eyes.

"Before we begin with anything related to the challenge, we have a sudden change of system to address." Chris stated, holding up his hand. He pointed at Williams. "Williams and Marshall are switching teams."

While everyone gasped in shock, Marshall beamed.

"Williams?" Ace turned to the boy. "Why-?"

The skater boy shrugged. "Beats the heck out of me." He stated.

_*Confessional: Alexandra and Young*_  
"NOOO!" They cried.  
"He was one of our strongest members!" Young threw his face into his hands.  
_*End Confessional*_

As the two neared each other as they began to switch sides, Marshall smiled at Williams and stuck out his hand. "I hope that this will-"

Williams didn't slow down, raising a brow at the offered hand. He passed Marshall without a second thought.

"Erm..." Marshall's face flushed in embarrassment as he brought the hand to his mouth and coughed into it instead. He continued walking and stood sheepishly with his new team.

Jacque pierced the new member with a glance. "Well look who whined and moaned to get his way."

Marshall didn't respond in favor of holding his arm defensively.

The Ants gawked at their new member.

"Woo... It's seems we got an upgrade!" Tabitha said in amazement, grabbing Williams's large arm and moving it around.

Vera swatted her off. "Er, sorry- I mean-" She muttered up to Williams.

"Welcome to the team!" Scott said brightly. "It's truly is sad to see our friend go, but from what I've seen of you as an opponent, I'm thrilled to have you as an ally!"

"Sure..." Williams's eyes trailed off. "Whatever."

*Confessional: Williams*  
His expression was blank. "Hm." Was his only comment.  
*Confessional: Vera*  
"Marshall's on the other team now?" She had her hands clasped in her lap, looking away from the camera. "That's... surprising." She shook her head. "But it doesn't matter in the case of us losing on purpose! Scott still has to go down!"  
*End Confessional*

"Now, on to more important things," Chris called back everyone's attention. "Casper was right about you walking in the cave-"

"Duh, we're standing right in front of it!" Casper cut in.

The host's eye twitched, but his smile didn't faulter. "But this is more of a collection challenge than anything. Basically, you will travel through the cavern's underground network, and while you do so, be looking for objects scattered around. Towards the end of the tunnels, the cave will widen up and connect you with tunnels that other contestants are in. When you meet, you'll use the objects you collected to hinder the other team as much as possible. Your team wins when all of your members reach the end of the cave."

The teenagers got into ready positions, preparing for when he would call for the challenge to begin.

Chris giggled. "A little straight-forward, don't you think? Nah, what you don't understand is that this," Chris gestured to the cave opening. "Is the _end_ of the cave."

The ground under the campers' feet gave out, and the screaming mass of them plummeted below. They were all free-falling in the dark, giving cries of pain and/or surprise as they hit walls on their way down.

-Tunnel 1-  
"Ack!"  
"_Sob_... _sob_..."  
"Gruh! Vous aurez à payer pour cela, Chris!"  
"Holy holy holy holy please tell me I'm not dead."

-Tunnel 2-  
"Ow, OW- okay _please_ tell me that didn't crack."  
"Wah! Oh god, it's so dirty! _Ugh_..."  
"Puh!"  
"AAAAAAaaaaahhhh!"  
"TELL MY STOOOOOOooooory!"

-Tunnel 3-  
"EEEEeeeek!"  
"HAHAHA who needs bones anyway..."  
"_Ooookay_, that hurt."  
"Why did I think signing up for this was a smart idea?"

"Dear campers, what just occurred was you all being separated into three groups at random, at the bottom of the cave. You'll have to separate into teams of two and one three, in which you will then carry on down one of the two tunnels in your room. Remember, don't forget to be looking for ways to stop the other team when the paths come back together!" Chris's voice echoed throughout the cavern, ending with a 'click.'

"Oi... is everyone alright?" Ace asked into the pitch darkness of the room. No one could see one another, the cameras having to use night-vision to see them.

"As good as falling from who-knows-how-high can get, I guess." Ray joked.

"Y'know, I'm not really sure at this point." Marshall said blankly.

"I'm okay..." Alexandra said. "Young, how are you?"

There was silence. "Young?" She repeated.

"I guess he fell in a different place." Ace informed, standing up.

"And where is 'another place?'" Alexandra questioned quickly.

"Urm..." Ace shuffled forward an inch. "I'm positive he's safe, don't worry." He said comfortably. "I'm moving around, so don't let me trip on you guys!" He cautioned.

"No- no no no! What if he isn't okay!?" Alexandra sprung up. "Wh- what if he fell wrong and got hurt, or he got teamed up with some bad people!?"

"Woah! There's jumping to conclusions, and then there's _trampolining_ to conclusions." Ray muttered.

"Hey, don't worry, nothing like that happened, I promise." Ace whispered to her calmly. "We just need to split up, so we can regroup, okay? You'll get back together with Young in no time."

"Speaking of which," Marshall cut in. "We can't split by teams."

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
"Ha! I got two of my teammates here, one of which I'm pretty sure plays 'leader' when she's with her boyfriend. There's no better time to show off my intelligence!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"Since there's three Trout and one Ant, one duo will be-" Marshall attempted to calculate.

"And you're all boys, that makes this feel so much _worse!_" Alexandra wailed.

"Alexandra, please-" Ace began.

He was nudged lightly in the stomach. "Hey, Ace!" Ray's voice called up to him.

"Yes, Ray?" He asked.

There was a pause. "This is Ace, right?" There was a tapping on his stomach.

"Um, if you're poking me, then yes." Ace laughed.

"Good!" Ray's voice dropped to a whisper. "Listen, I think you should go with Alexandra. She'll probably be more at ease with you over me or Marshall, seeing as you're already in a relationship."

"Yeah, good idea!" He beamed.

"What'cha talking about?" Marshall asked nervously to the side as Alexandra continued to cry.

"You and me are on a team, buddy!" Ray called to him.

"Wait, no, I-" Marshall stuttered.

"Too late, it's decided by default!" Ray interrupted whatever Marshall was about to say.

-Tunnel 2-  
"That was quite the fall..." Scott moaned, brushing off his hands.

Casper yelled, "Broken! They're all broken!"

"What!? Your bones!?" Chloe yelled in panic.

"No, all of my vials!" Casper complained.

"Did you just say you broke your veins?" Willaims asked in disbelief.

"No, my chemistry vials! The glass stuff you put experiments in?" Casper tried to explain.

Scott groaned. "Yes, broken glass, a nice touch to this already disgusting place."

"Broken glass?" Young repeated. "Be careful, 'kay Princess?" He said to his girlfriend that wasn't there.

"...Al- Alexandra?" He whimpered fearfully.

"We seem to be the group with one extra person." Scott mused. "I'm afraid your lover isn't here." He said apologetically.

"Oh... oh no..." Young began to shake.

"Ey bro, you doing alright?" Chloe asked in the direction she thought Young was in.

"I have to find her! Right now!" Young shouted in panic.

"Oof!" There was a thud when Young dashed straight into Scott's chest. "Don't be so hasty!" Scott hissed from the ground.

"Who is this?" Williams asked, ignoring the lonely desperate man, patting the back of someone's shirt.

The torso flinched away from him. "A dude who doesn't like being sneaked up on!" Casper snapped at him.

Williams mumbled a 'sorry' to him as he shuffled away. A minute later, he patted a head. "Who is this?"

"The most rad chick you'll ever meet." Chloe laughed.

"Good." He said, touching her arm.

Chloe's eyes widened, but it did no good it the dark. "Yo! What's the deal-?" She said as he lightly pulled her away.

"Shh..." He hushed. "Let's just let them be dumb on their own time."

Chloe twisted so they were walking the same direction. "But we aren't on the same team anymore..." She reminded with a touch of sadness.

"Did you want to work with any of those other bumbling idiots?" He asked her seriously.

Chloe hummed. "Nah... I guess you're the only bumbling idiot I'd want to work with!" She joked, patting his arm.

Her laughter died off, and Williams didn't say anything. "... I just hope Young will be okay." Chloe added.

"AAAAALEEEEEEX!" Young screamed hysterically.

"Rrg! Williams, will you help keep him under control, at least?" Scott asked, holding Young back from running full-force into a wall.

Nothing but crying could be heard.

"Chloe!?" Casper called. When no one called back, he barked, "Those jerks left me!" He crouched to the ground, "They left me with a useless crying guy and worst of all, Scott!"

"I am RIGHT HERE." Scott yelled back, letting go of Young and letting him face plant on the ground.

-Tunnel 1-  
"Was that Spanish or something?" Tabitha laughed, referring to a long string of swears that had poured out of Jacque's mouth in several languages.

Jacque leaned on the wall. "Some of it." He replied simply.

"Yvette?" Vera said nervously to the sound of sobbing. "Are you okay?"

She didn't respond.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"This will without a doubt leave a bruise..." She whimpered.  
_*End Confessional*_

"So I see two little dots in two different directions," Tabitha informed. "Those must be where the separate paths are!" She began walking to one of them.

Yvette shrieked as several thumping sounds hit the ground.

"Tabitha!" Vera immediately assumed. "Watch where you're going!"

"What, exactly, do you want me to watch in pure dark!?" Tabitha hissed. She felt a tangle of limbs beneath her, and patted the body until she felt a hat. "Ah, Yvette!" The actress hoisted the smaller to her feet. "You shall be my partner!" She declared, practically tucking the albino under her arm.

"Wait, no-!" Yvette squeaked in protest.

"Tabitha!" Vera shouted again. She gasped when she fell a tugging in her jacket.

"Parnters." Jacque stated simply, right next to her.

Vera grumbled. "Now just hold on a minute, everyone." She sighed before taking a deep breath. "Yvette, I talked to Tabitha already, and she shouldn't do anything _too_rash." She told the group. "Tabitha, _don't do anything rash._" She warned.

"I never do rash things." Tabitha replied.

"Now, Yvette, would you mind going with Tabitha? If you don't want to, we can always make different arrangements." Vera offered kindly.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"I- I don't know... Preferably, I'd team up with Vera, but then again, she might be the only one who could deal with that guy from the other team..." She pondered.  
_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"They can do as they please." Jacque said. His face cracked a wide smile, producing a red token between his fingers. "I already got what I need."  
_*End Confessional*_

"I... I'm fine." Yvette finally muttered. "I'll go with Tabitha."

"Are you sure?" Vera asked in surprise.

Yvette nodded, then her face heated when she remembered no one could see it. "Yes." She said.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Tabitha shouted, picking up Yvette over her head and running towards one of the dots.

"_Tabitha!_" Vera yelled again.

Path 1: Ace and Alexandra, Team "A's Go First."  
"I see light, come on!" Alexandra cried through eyes brimming with tears.

Ace shouted in protest. "Don't run, you never know what'll pop up!"

The lonely lover didn't listen, running until she came to the source of the light.

"A torch..." Ace said to himself, looking down the cavern. "A few of them... We must be on the right path, then!" He sighed with relief.

His relief didn't last long. As soon as he looked back at his duo partner, only her shoe was visible, running down the brightened path.

He groaned and dashed after her.

"JASOOON!" She screamed as she ran. "Please, Jason..." She suddenly halted, dropping to her knees. Her tears let loose. "J- Jason..."

"Oh boy..." Ace became immediately concerned when he jogged up behind her fallen form. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but drew his hand back, deciding against it.

Standing there awkwardly, he opted to squat next to her, at a distance just to be polite. "Hey, I get it. I've felt like you since, well, I got to the island. I had to leave my soulmate, Zack, in order to come on this show, and I didn't know _what_ to do. He always had my back, and without him I feel so... fragile."

"At least you know that he's back at your home!" Alexandra hissed at him bitterly. "'Fragile?' Try SOULLESS!"

Ace sighed. "You're right, Young probably isn't okay."

The girl made a gasping, choking noise.

"The absolute worst thing is happening to him right now, in fact." Ace stood up. He walked to the front of the girl and held out a hand. "Because he doesn't have his other half."

Alexandra peered up at Ace's friendly smile. She scrubbed at her eyes.

"But I'm sure the last thing he wants is for her to be hurt when they reunite, right?" Ace continued.

Alexandra let out a shaky sigh. She ignored his outstretched hand, but stood up all the same. "We'll fast walk, then." She decided.

Ace laughed lightly. "Just be careful, alright?"

The New Yorker nodded swiftly, barreling down the path at the highest walking speed she had. Ace jogged behind her.

Path 2: Marshall and Ray, Team "Good Eyesight is Overrated."  
"Dude, what's your damage?" Ray asked up to Marshall after minutes of walking in silence.

Marshall's face lit up as he looked down at Ray. "Hm? What are you, er, referring to?"

Ray's shoulders lifted into a shrug. "Anything, I guess. I'm giving you my ears, free to grump into if you so choose." He showed this by raising a hand to the ear closest to Marshall.

The taller boy hummed, crossing his arms. "For starters, I don't get the opportunity to prove myself to my team because I'm not _around_ any of them."

Ray gacked, bringing a hand to his chest. "Ouch, Marshall, that's cruel!" He cried teasingly.

"You weren't supposed to take that personally!" Marshall shot back at him. "I get it, Alexandra is really scared, and it must be better to be with someone she knows at least a little, but I still wish I had the chance..." He trailed off.

"So, you aren't cruel..." Ray said, twisting to Marshall with a grin. "You're selfish, eh?"

Marshall's face contorted in a scowl. "Why does everyone have to keep giving me a hard time!?" He screamed, throwing down his arms.

This time Ray legitimately flinched back. "Yo!" Was his only response.

"Scott, Jacque, Williams, and now _you_," He listed off, stepping forward.

"I was joking, man!" Ray defended. "I get you, honest!" He took a step back.

"Why do people keep bothering me!? Not a single good thing has come my way since I got here!" Tears pricked his eyes. "Even then, all these challenges just keep shoving it in my face that I'm not nearly as good at things as I strive to be-! Ow!" Marshall yelped when a white light glared into his eyes, painful from the soft light of the torches his eyes were used to.

"Calm down, dude!" Ray commanded fearfully. "I got a- I got a _flashlight_." His voice wavered at the end, realizing how non-threatening that sounded.

"Okay, okay! Jeez!" Marshall shielded the light away from his face. "When the heck did you get that?"

"Just now..." Ray admitted. He clicked the light off. "I almost tripped on it when you went all berserk-o on me."

"S- sorry... for the record, I wouldn't have done anything." Marshall sniffed, trying to look natural. "I don't work well with teasing, another thing I need to work on." He groaned.

"Mm, well, I need to cool my own jets too." Ray held the flashlight at his side. "I tease more than usual under stress."

Marshall snorted. "You, _stress_? Never struck me as the type, to be honest."

Ray rubbed his head. "Anybody on Scott's team should be stressed!"

Marshall burst out laughing.

Path 3: Yvette and Tabitha, Team "French Wannabes"  
"So dark... so _mysterious_..." Tabitha cooed as the duo neared their path's first torch. "You know what this would make the perfect place for?"

Yvette didn't want to know, in all honesty. "What?" She asked back.

"A..." When they reached the torch, she grabbed it off the wall and held it under her face, shadows stretching across her features. "SUPER VILLAIN!" She declared.

"That's a safety hazard!" Was the only thing the short girl was concerned about, pointing to the small flame under Tabitha's hair.

"Yes, super villains ARE very hazardous, aren't they?" Tabitha pondered aloud, rubbing her chin. Suddenly, she snapped. "That's it!"

"Hmm..." Yvette peered at the actress, concern written all over her face.

"My new character will be..." Suddenly, she dropped the torch, it falling to the ground.

Yvette silently gasped and took several steps back. Thankfully, the flame went out on impact. She looked back up to the other girl in disbelief.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"Why on why did I think this was a good idea!?" She fretted, biting her nails. "This girl is insane, she'll get someone seriously injured!" She gulped. "And there's a good chance that person will be me."  
_*End Confessional*_

Tabitha ruffled up her hair from the back up, transforming her ringlets into a mass of black fuzz on her head. When she was finished, she reared back her head and cackled evilly.

If it were possible with her pure-white skin, Yvette's face would have paled.

"Come, my henchwoman, let us _destroy_ the other team in an overly complicated scheme!" Tabitha declared in a high-pitched voice, continuing down the path.

Yvette shuffled nervously behind, watching in fear as Tabitha grabbed another torch, already plotting something aloud involving 'fire pits' and 'train tracks.'

Path 4: Chloe and Williams, Team "T-Shirts Are Only Cool If They Say Stuff."  
"Did you find anything cool yet?" Chloe asked Willaims as she shuffled around the path.

Williams grunted, hauling a rock to its side. "Nothing." He exhaled, dissapointed at the blank floor underneath it.

"Hey, ah, bro?" Chloe rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, turning to the boy.

Williams leaned on the wall of the cave. "Yeah?" He answered.

"Thanks for yesterday, don't know what I would have done without ya, heh heh." She muttered, eyes set to the ground.

The boy rubbed his neck, but he didn't look bashful. "I really didn't mind. You and Ace are pretty much the only people on the Trout that are actually cool- 'would be a same if you got squashed flat."

Chloe chuckled. "Too bad you got switched, amiright? Man, the epic tag-team we could make." She intertwined her fingers. "Close as can be, like _Sam and Dean_!"

"To be honest, I'm a little grateful of the switch." Williams got off the wall and continued down the path.

Chloe walked behind him. "Whatcha mean?" She asked, betrayal in her tone.

"I don't want to end up having to hurt you, but in order to get that money..." He turned away from her, a breeze from somewhere in the cave pulling back some of his hair. "I don't know what lengths I would go to."

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
In short, Chloe was laughing herself to stiches. "AH! AHAHAHAHAH! This guy has angst written all over him! Oh my god!" She pounded her fist on the sink, holding her stomach. "I've walked straight into a teenage romance movie! Ahahah, oh, it hurts!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"Er... but what happens if we both make it to the merge?" Chloe asked him.

Williams sighed sadly. "I don't know, to be honest." He turned to her. "Can we just agree to try not to get in each other's way?"

Chloe's eyes darted up to his face in surprise. She cracked a smirk. "Eh, sure."

He held out a hand to her, of which her eyes widened. Then they relaxed, and she reached out to it. Williams's expression turned awkward when she opted to picky-swear instead.

"Oh!" Chloe suddenly cried. "I just up and found something!" She ran around Williams and picked up something yellow.

Williams groaned and rubbed his head. "Don't tell me that's a-"

"It's a _classic_." Chloe grinned, holding up a banna peel.

Path 5: Vera and Jacque, Team "That's A Cool Exterior You Have."  
The two walked down the path. Vera had her hands in the pockets of her shorts, speeding to the end.

"You aren't gonna even try to look?" Jacque asked from behind her, but not by a terrible distance.

Vera shook her head. "There's no need. The sooner the challenge ends, the better."

Jacque scoffed. "The sooner you exit the cave, the sooner your team _wins_, doll."

That made the girl halt. "Oh- right." Vera stood there for a second, then continued on just as fast as before. "Then the sooner I get there, the sooner I can make sure nobody leaves."

Jacque groaned. "What's the point in all this? Your little crush just betrayed you to get what he wanted, and you're just going to bend over backwards to make his day easier? I, if anyone, can appreciate dedication, but all of that means shit if your motives are shit."

"I-!" Vera whirled around. "Shut up. Who said this was for him? Scott's been dragging us down since day one! I'll give Marshall my thanks for being the thing to finally push us to this any day!"

Jacque's face stayed still as stone. "I've hated that pretty-boy from day one myself."

"Then are we on the same page?" Vera asked hopefully.

"Psh, not even close. _You're_ on the page of wanting to jump into bed with that emotional freak." Jacque pointed a finger at her.

Vera scowled. "I don't like Marshall like that." She stated. She slapped his hand away. "But I like him enough to ask that you stop insulting him."

"Too bad for you." Jacque shot back to her coolly.

Her lips pursed. "If that's the case, then you better stop saying it around me."

He smirked down at her.

Path 6: Scott, Young, and Casper, Team "All These Pent Up Emotions Are Going To Make One Of These Guys Punch Somebody, Like, Seriously."  
"Stop, go, stop, go," Casper complained, "You're like a traffic light with no yellow sign!"

"Thus is the affect of a yearning heart." Scott sighed as Young curled up in his third ball of the day, sobbing. As he had the last two times, in a few minutes he would spring up in fury of determination, until despair and loneliness caught up to him, he'd curl up into a ball- the cycle continued.

When Casper didn't say anything back, Scott pressed him. "Alright, don't think I don't know what's been going on! You all want to sabotage the challenge to get me out- but for what, a simple kiss?"

Casper just shook his head in disgust at the man.

"You've had it out for me from the start." Scott added. "I don't mean the team, I mean you specifically."

Casper's teeth grit together, crossed arms practically about to snap each other with how tight he was holding them.

"But don't you get it?" Scott brought a hand to his chest, gripping where his heart is. His gaze moved to the side. "Why I made such a big display yesterday?"

Scott smiled at Casper. "I did it to make you jealous."

Casper's hands curled tight fists. "I will _end_ you!" He yelled at Scott.

"I wanted to wait, I wanted this to be special," Scott brought his other hand up, smiling to the floor bashfully. "Casper, I want you to feel the same way, but I- I know that you don't."

"Will you ever _shut up!?_" Casper yelled again, seething with rage.

"You're mad at me... But, that's okay, I love all of your emotions." Scott gulped. "Casper, I- I'm in love with you!"

"I know that's a lie!" Casper yanked the front of Scott's shirt, rearing back his arm.

A wicked grin cracked across the boy's face as he slammed his fist on Casper's jaw.

Casper grabbed his cheek, sprawling backwards. He stared back at Scott with wide eyes.

Scott held every gesture of 'prideful' there was. "Come on, now, Casper, you've wanted a fight from the beginning- don't be so easy to take down!" He mocked.

"Oh," Casper said simply. "That won't be a problem."

The chemist charged at him, and within moments, the two were a brawling, punching, gut-kneeing mess on the cave floor.

Young's head shot up, unnoticed by the others. "I heard her... Alexandra!" He yelled happily, chasing down the faint noises down the path.

"-son?" A female echo sounded.

"ALEX!" He called, sprinting faster.

"-SON!" He heard her say again.

"-andra!" Came a concerned male voice that Young didn't care enough about to identify.

"-so faaaAAAAAST!" The male voice grew louder, as the said man came crashing down to the floor in front of Young.

Young wouldn't have stopped to check on the person, but he tripped over him anyway, and fell once again to the ground.

"Ow..." Ace moaned. "Young!" He gasped in shock.

"-on! ...-n!" Young heard his girlfriend's voice grow more distant.

"Were you... calling for her too?" Young asked shakily up to Ace.

"Oh, yes! We got grouped together, you see, and she heard you calling her, and she just started running like a- a- I don't know, something fast." Ace rubbed the back of his head. "I guess somehow there was a cliff or something connecting our two paths, and I suppose my balance is no where near as good as hers!" He laughed.

"But she's okay?" Young asked.

Ace nodded. "Besides being worried sick, she's fine as can be!"

Young paused, then sighed with a smile. "That's all I needed to know." He stood, and hoisted Ace up with him.

"Yeah, but..." Ace started, "She doesn't know."

Young smiled some more at him. "That's why we're going to go find her." He began to walk down the path like a sane man.

Ace blinked in confusion, shook his head, and caught up to Young. "Who were you grouped with? Where are they?"

Young's face contorted into one of confusion. "...You know, I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention."

Ace shrugged. "Oh well, I'm sure they'll be better off alone than with a rampaging lover." He teased.

Young giggled. "I wish I could deny it!"

"If you give up first, you exit this cave!" Scott declared as he deflected a hit.

"You'll have to drag me dead over that line!" Casper yelled back at him.

"Grr... _arrangeable_." Scott hissed, trying to kick Casper in the knee.

Paths 2 and 5  
"What's up?" Vera asked friendly as two people came into view.

"Nothing much!" Marshall called back happily.

Ray cocked a smile, twirling the flashlight around between his fingers. "Ya get anything?"

Vera's smile shrunk. "No, we weren't supposed to be looking... remember?"

Ray's eyebrows rose. "I just kinda stumbled across this thing, y'know? And what good is a flashlight gonna be anyway?"

Jacque rolled his eyes at the whole scene.

"Um, hey, fellow Trout!" Marshall called to him nervously.

Jacque stared at him. "So do we battle you guys now?" He asked to the members of the other team, still keeping eye contact with Marshall.

"Hey, hey!" Ray cried defensively. "There's no end of the cave in sight yet!"

"Plus it would be unnecessary." Vera added.

"I wish I could be there to see Scott get carried off..." Marshall muttered vengefully.

Vera nodded, then caught Jacque's shift of sight to her in the corner of her eye. "And so would the whole team Ants."

Marshall's face lowered in surprise. "Yeah, I guess they would." He said awkwardly.

"Jacque, if I said I see the end of the cave, would you fight us?" Ray asked half-jokingly, half-actually-concerned.

"I will if you keep being a smartass." Jacque shot at him.

Vera shot out her arm. "Alright, Ray, you and I stay here and wait for the others. Marshall, cross that line, and you too, if you'd be so kind." Vera said bitterly to Jacque. "Wait, those two already outside, don't tell me they're-"

Two girls stood outside of the cave. Tabitha, nervously scratching her cheek, and Yvette, shaking more than a leaf.

"What are you two doing!?" Marshall fussed as he crossed the border of the cave, entering a now-sunny atmosphere.

"H-h-had to run... had to..." Yvette stuttered, staring nowhere in particular.

"I'm a villain, so I'm, uh, doing something you don't want me to?" Tabitha laughed emptily.

"You both look worse than usual." Jacque said off-handedly, moving to the grass if the outside as well.

"You girls okay?" Ray asked, waving a hand in front them.

"Careful!" Vera said, pulling him back. "You almost stepped out!"

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Darn! I was hoping she wouldn't notice!" He complained.  
_*End Confessional*_

"I-" Yvette began, before the voice of her friend interrupted.

"Heeeey!" Chloe called from the dark of the cavern, waving her hand. Williams trailed behind her, slightly smiling.

_"Grrr..."_

"Ch- CHLOE!" Yvette screamed.

Williams and Chloe heard the low growl just as a figure leapt out of the shadows, lunging for the two.

Quick to action, Williams pushed Chloe away- albeit a bit too forcefully- towards the exit. She landed on her stomach a few inches away, the banana peel she collected flying off somewhere. Chloe scrambled to her feet, bolted out of the cave, and hid behind the people who were already there.

Williams grunted as he faced something pretty scary, even for him.

"Alexandra! You are okay!" Young's voice piped up from the depth of the cave as he ran into view, Ace not far behind him, smiling.

"I took quite the fall trying to catch up to you, you know!" Ace laughed.

"RUN, YOU FOOLS!" Tabitha shrieked.

The hands that were murderously clawing at Williams stopped at the sound of the two voices.

Alexandra's head snapped back and wide, angry eyes started at the two. Her pupils were dilated to mere dots. Her lips curled back as she let out a horrendous scream, ripping her arms away from Williams, charging at the two.

"P- princess!?" Young gasped in disbelief as she tackled Ace to the ground. "H- hey! Stop that!" He grabbed her wrist as she was about to collide her hand somewhere on Ace's face.

"The- the hell...?" Jacque whispered at the sight, voicing everyone else's train of thought.

Ray was just as shocked, but didn't waste his opportunity to take a step backwards onto the grass.

Alexandra shot a glare up to the man restraining her hand. A high-pitched scream came from her throat once again as she jumped off of Ace, swinging her legs around to knock Young down.

"Get outta here!" Williams commanded as he yanked Ace off the ground by the arm, throwing him towards the exit.

Ace's eyes were as wide a saucers. He stumbled to the rest of the campers, of whom made room for him.

The girl's hands wrapped around Young's neck, giving him an empty glare the whole time.

Williams's arms reached around and grabbed her shoulders, yanking Alexandra off of Young, retraining her as good as possible.

Young started up at her while she thrashed in his hold. "Baby... Alex, what- what's wrong?" He muttered. "Why are you... so angry?" He asked in disbelief.

"If this is how you want to play it!" Scott's voice rose from the dark.

That snapped Vera back to reality. "Get out of the cave!" She cried. "Hurry!"

Young stood and stared in complete confusion at his girlfriend. "Alexandra... _talk_ to me!" He cried.

A still-wrestling duo came into sight of the contestants. "I told you- I'd have to be dead!" Casper fought, throwing Scott away.

Scott stumbled, before throwing himself at Casper again.

"Alex..." Young tried to smile past a stream of tears. "Hey, it's okay..."

She swung her leg up, her foot jabbing into his stomach.

"They're even-matched..." Vera fretted under her breath, watching as Scott and Casper tussled it out.

They were in fact even, both about as roughed-up and tired as the other.

Until Casper got clocked in the head with a flashlight and fell unconscious.

"RAY!" Vera seethed, whirling around.

"My, uh, hand slipped?" Ray said, shrinking down.

"Ha..." Scott exhaled as he stared down at the body of his opponent. "Haha! I guess it won't be over your 'dead' body, but this must be close enough!" Scott cheered, grabbing Casper's feet and dragging him to the end.

"No..." Vera's fists shook. "I won't let this happen!" She glared back around to Scott, taking a step forward.

And slipping on a banana peel, sending her flying backwards, a majority of her body going out of the cave.

"What were you saying?" Scott asked smugly, leaning over her after he dragged Casper outside.

"It looks like we have a winning team, the Wrathful Ants!" Chris cheered. "We all know the rules now- Thrashing Trout, to the bonfire!"

"Wait!" Young shrieked, shoving his way to the host. "What happened to Alexandra? What happened to her!?"

"She was hypnotized." Chris shrugged, as if it were obvious.

"H- how do we fix it?" Young was on his knees now, practically begging the host.

"You get the person who hypnotized her to undo it." The host answered simply again.

Young shot up. "Really!? Just like that!? Then who did it?"

Chris waved a finger at him. "Now that would just ruin the fun if I told you that."

Young's eyes widened, and he turned to the other teenagers. "Who did it!?" He yelled at them, anger rising. Despite his scowl, tears flowed out of his eyes like a waterfall. "Please..." He begged.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one said anything.

Slowly, Young's hands were brought to his face, and he sobbed loudly.

The others, no matter which team, left him guiltily.

"Does anyone have any alcohol?" Chloe asked as she walked towards the elimination ceremony. "I've never gotten drunk before, but now seems like the best time to try."

Yvette tugged on Tabitha's sleeve when they were far away from the cave and other contestants.

"...What do you want?" Tabitha asked sadly.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Yvette asked, still shaking terribly.

Tabitha scoffed. "Why didn't you?" She returned bitterly.

_*Flashback*_  
"Young!" Alexandra burst into the connection of her path and the path of Tabitha and Yvette.

"Stop!" Tabitha pointed a torch to the girl. "How'd you find my secret lair?" She asked in a weird accent.

"I, uh, beg your pardon?" Alexandra looked around the pathway.

"It's okay, she's just playing." Yvette quickly informed.

Tabitha batted the torch in Yvette's direction. "What a terrible henchwoman! Already giving away my secrets!"

Yvette rubbed her arm, unsure of how to respond.

"Sounds like a better time than I'm having..." Alexandra muttered. "Are you guys in a group with Young?"

"No, I haven't seen him. He wasn't with us when we first got separated." Yvette said apologetically as Tabitha began to rummage around the small area.

"He wasn't with me either." Alexandra sighed. "I know I heard him!"

"Woah! Check it out!" Tabitha whistled. "If this isn't villainous, I don't know what is!" She produced a pinwheel-shaped object of only black and white.

"An evil six-year-old, maybe." Alexandra giggled.

Tabitha huffed and spun the wheel. "Well a true evil genius finds a way to make anything- whoa, what's up with your face?"

Alexandra's expression dropped into a dead-neutral one.

"Are you... acting too?" Yvette asked her in concern, with no answer.

The actress moved the pinwheel away, and Alexandra's head turned with it. Surprised, Tabitha moved it all around, laughing as she followed it everywhere. "Oh man! Do you think we could tell her to do something?"

"Like hypnotism?" Yvette questioned, raising a brow. "Sure, but, nothing too bad, okay?"

Tabitha scoffed. "Why not? I'm supposed to be evil, so I should say something like 'Alexandra, destroy all the Thrashing Trout!'"

_*End Flashback*_

At the bonfire, Alexandra was handcuffed and chained to her log, but it still didn't stop her from attempting to attack her teammates. Young was shaking from a fit he just got over, not able to look at his girlfriend. Chloe was awkwardly sitting on her log. Jacque kept his eyes on the current psycho of the team. Ace had his hands running through his hair, still contemplating things. Marshall played with his hair, waiting for the verdict.

Chris kept his face blank.

"Young"

The marshmallow bounced off of his head, not bothering to catch it.

"Chloe"

"Jacque"

"Ace"

Marshall gained the nerve to look over his shoulder at Alexandra, and regretted it.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Marshall"

Young shot up from his seat. "What'll happen when she leaves the island?" He demanded.

Chris shrugged. "She'll be out of the game, obviously."

"Will they be able to cure her there?" Young pressed.

"Nope. I said that only the person who did it can break it, and I can assure that person is still on the island." Chris promised.

"I see..." Young's face darkened. "Everyone, I have a request to make you." He said, referring to the Trout. "I don't blame you for voting her out, I understand why you did it, but please understand _me_ when I say that I can't let you do this. I'm going to take her elimination myself, and I beg of you all to cure her- please don't send her away until her hypnosis is broken." He bowed. "That's all I ask."

He turned to Alexandra. "The best woman in the world..." He sighed, stroking her hair until she twisted around to bite his hand. "Don't- _hic_\- get yourself hurt, okay?" He choked, and sprinted away to the dock. His wails could be heard even after the yacht took him away.

/

_"That was some amazing work out there."_

_"Yeah, cave systems were surprising complicated."_

_"Good idea with the hypno-thing, by the way. Human minds are so easy to bend, huh?"_

_"Not as easy as yours."_

_"Thanks-! Heeeey!"_

_"Don't let her get to you. Her object idea was stupid."_

_"Are you dissing my rocks?"_

_"Yes. Nobody is going to pick up a rock to use as a weapon but you, idiot."_

_"You don't know that, humans are pretty dumb!"_

_"And so are all of you. You're all dumb. All of you. No argument. Now come on, we have work."_

**The Votes**

Alexandra: n/a

Young: Marshall

"They wouldn't vote out Alexandra, would they? They have to know that it's not her fault! Oh, what do I do now!?"

Marshall: Alexandra

"Well everything sure turned out the way it was supposed to, huh?" He asked sarcastically. "I... guess my vote's not to different from when I voted for the cat girl on my first day. What can you do with a psycho on your side?"

Chloe: Alexandra

"I like Alexandra, I like Young, and I hate whoever did this to them! But... we're already way on the low side of team members... can we really risk this?"

Jacque: Alexandra

"Chloe hasn't been on my case lately, so if she's going to drop me, I'll drop her. For now. I'm really working up a thing with Marshall and that Vera, so I'll save him for later."

Ace: Marshall

"I could never break apart a couple as close as them! No, there's no way!"

**The Tokens**

1 Double Vote Token, Owned by: Jacque

**Contestants**  
The Thrashing Trout: Jacque, Marshall, Chloe, Ace, Alexandra

The Wrathful Ants: Vera, Casper, Ray, Scott, Williams, Tabitha, Yvette

Eliminated(in order): Cathy, Yuki, Angie, Young


	9. Aftermath: The Worst of the Fanbase

"Hello there, Total Drama fans everywhere!" Said a boy sitting on a chair in the middle of a big stage. A large TV screen stretched behind him, a row a seats to the right of the stage. "Guess who got his own _hosting_ job!" The boy sprung to his feet, the audience applauding the new Aftermath host.

"Uh-huh, that's right!" He held his arm out in pride. "Topher's on his way to make it to the top- first the Aftermath show, tomorrow..." Topher then hunched over, squealing in contrast to his confident voice. "_Total Drama!_"

The audience's applause awkwardly died down as the host freaked out about his own fantasies.

Topher seemed to notice. Coughing, he straightened himself. "Even for a show that I'm not hosting myself, Regrets of the Island sure is making itself interesting." In a low whisper, he added, "Leaves more for _me_ to talk about."

The show's title spun around on the screen behind him as he took a few paces to the left of the stage. "While I know that I'm more than entertaining enough for you lovely fans, I have to also give some floor to our voted-off contestants."

Clearing his throat one last time, he waved dramatically to the end of the stage. "She's a math prodigy who probably wouldn't hesitate to uppercut her way to the win if she was still running- give it up for Lorelei Evang- Evangie-" Sighing, he pulled a card out of his pocket and gave it a quick glance. "Lorelei Evangeline Von Dessel!"

With arms crossed, the girl stomped on stage.

"AKA: Angie!" Topher cheered, throwing the card to the ground. With that, the audience began to cheer again.

Angie rolled her eyes, scowling as she crossed the host to the row of seats.

Topher waited, looking at Angie to see if she had a comment. Her scowl just deepened.

"Well, our next guest," Topher turned back to the front, not fazed. "We have the girl who's parents probably put her on the show to get the money for her psychiatrist bills, Cathy!"

From off the stage, there's a sharp crash. A boot appears as it kicks the ex-contestant on stage. There is no applause as Cathy hisses to the person out of view, then trots on all fours to lay by the seats to the right.

"People get voted out for a reason, am I right folks?" Topher cracked a joke in a shrug. "Anyway, give it up for the man who would have been unstoppable if he was with his girlfriend, Ja-"

Suddenly, there was a shriek, Young being pushed onto the stage by a large, angry looking man. The younger of the two was sobbing loudly. The man glared at the Aftermath host. "Do you know how long it took to get him to calm down enough for this!?" He boomed down at Topher. "Why in your right mind would you mention Alexandra-?"

From the mention of the name, Young wailed louder and crumbled to the ground.

Topher and the man raised their eyebrows, then Topher pointed to him and lowered a brow at the man. "That one's on you, bro."

The man groaned, picking Young up by the back of the shirt and flinging him across the room. He dusted off his hands and walked off the screen.

Young roughly landed on a chair next Angie. He stared to tip backward, but the girl took a finger and pushed the chair back on the ground.

But with all of that, Young didn't seem to notice and kept bawling. Giving him a once-over, Angie said, "And I thought you were annoying _before_."

Topher cleared his throat. "Give it up for Jason Young!" The crowd whooped and cheered, but Young still didn't pay it any mind.

Without waiting for the clapping to die down completely, the host began with the last introduction. "Lastly, the chipper gymnastic with a library's worth of video games, Yuki Sameo!"

The girl jumped on stage, smiling as the applause picked up. She waved a hand at them all, which made them cheer louder.

"It's great to see that we have at least one happy camper!" Topher said to her as she walked to the other side.

"Don't you mean happy _ex_ camper?" Yuki giggled to him.

"Touché." Topher replied with a snap of his fingers.

When the gamer got to the seats of those who had been eliminated, her eyes widened in surprise. Her eyes landed on Angie, and Yuki's face crinkled into a scowl.

Angie didn't hesitate to give her one back.

"Hmph!" Yuki shot her head away and plopped down on the other side of Young, crossing her arms. Her expression quickly became concerned when she noticed how upset the boy was.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you two hate each other!" Topher laughed before turning back to the camera. "Folks, stay tuned, because not only are we going to go over the drama- we're gonna make even more! On Total! Drama! Aftermath!" He shot his hands in the air, a mimic of Chris.

Angie and Yuki looked around in confusion. "I don't think it's time for a commercial break yet." Yuki informed lightly.

The host's eyes shot open. Rubbing his hair, he flashed a nervous smile. "Of course I knew that! But thank you, Loser Crew."

"_Excuse_ me?" Angie barked, glaring at him.

Topher cleared his throat and pointed above their heads. Hanging directly over the four was a lit sign that read 'Loser Crew.'

"I'm going to rip that thing down." Angie stated.

"Try if you want, but we'll still call you that." Topher's smile went back to it's normal state. "Anyway, it's time for our first segment!"

He sat back down on his fancy red chair and turned towards the plastic chairs of the Loser Crew. "Here, I'm going to ask you a few questions that the fans have been _dying to know."_

"I hope they're already dead." Angie scoffed.

Yuki rolled her eyes before giving the host a smile. "Awesome! I never had people want to know me so bad!"

Cathy rolled on her side, Young didn't say anything.

"Alright!" Topher beamed at having at least one of the four interviewees be willing. "How about we start with you, Yuki? Your question is: why did you run out of the movie challenge so quickly?"

The girl brought a hand to the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "Ah... I hate gore. I can't stand to play Resident Evil or any of those gross games."

"Ah, so you're more of a twelve-years-and-under gamer?" The host pressed.

"I... maybe wouldn't say _that_." Yuki casted her eyes down.

"And speaking of the movie challenge, Angie," Topher changed the focus to the punk. "What made you rage about the romance movie?"

Angie shook her head. "I hate the kind of girl the main character was in it. Acting like she didn't have any life outside of her looks and boyfriend. No offense." She added to Young.

"I wasn't going to until you said that." Young muttered.

"What makes you hate them so much?" Topher continued.

The punk groaned. "Because my home is filled to the brim with them! Trust me, it gets old."

"All rightie then... Young, the fans are dying to know, are you little jealous of the bias Alexandra has shown for Jacque when it has come to voting?"

"What?" That made Young sit straight. "Why would I? We love each other and nothing can come between us! She just sees more in him than I do because he helped her in the acting challenge."

"Lastly..." The host bent down to the floor to the sleeping girl, and in Cathy's ear yelled, "WHY YOU SO CRAY-CRAY!?"

Cathy shrieked and jumped up to the others, ending up trying to climb Yuki's head.

"Hey, don't scare her on purpose!" Yuki defended as Cathy shook with wide eyes. Yuki let her cling to her.

"Sorry, it's what the audience wants, and I _must_ deliver!" Topher shrugged as he stood. "Now, seeing as you all have been purposefully kept from watching the show, our next segment is where you can ask _me_ a question, and I'll answer honestly."

Young shot up. "Who hypnotized Alexandra!?" He demanded.

Topher smirked and tapped his chin. "Haven't you heard of ladies first-?"

His taunt was interrupted as Young waved his arms in a hectic rage. "TELL MEEEEE!" The boy shrieked.

"Okay, okay!" Topher gave in. "It was Tabitha, okay!?"

Young became still. He lowered his arms slowly, a deep, terrifying scowl transforming his face. "I can't wait to see her, then."

Topher gulped. "W- well then, Cathy, a question?" He asked quickly.

At the silence of the now sitting girl, Yuki patted her head affectionately. "It seems that this cat isn't so curious." Yuki giggled. "But _I_ have to ask, are Yvette and Chloe doing well?"

"Hmm... well, Chloe isn't in danger, but Yvette's on a team that's trying to lose to eliminate Scott, PLUS she's the only witness of Tabitha's hypnotism. What should we make of that?"

"Woah..." Yuki said with wide eyes. "Losing on purpose, huh? Well, Yvette did tell me she really didn't like Scott."

Young's face cracked an evil smile. "She'd better get that girl off immediately."

"Angie, what's your question?" Topher turned to her.

"What makes you think I care about any of that?" Angie waved her hand. "I'm out, I'm done with all of it."

The host clasped his hands together. "C'mon, please? I can't have extra time at the end!"

Angie groaned and brought her eyes up in thought. After a second, she said, "Fine. Are Yvette and Casper a thing yet?"

Topher brightened. "Nope! And they never will be, becaaaause... Yvette is a lesbian!"

Yuki gasped. "Wait, what? She didn't tell me! Aw, now I feel bad for teasing her about Casper!" Yuki brought her hands to her face.

"Eh, I just never liked that needy white shrimp." Angie said dismissively. "I think it's ridiculous Casper's been going after her." She grinned. "Now he'll regret it."

"Hey, that's where I draw the line!" Yuki reached across Young and pointed a finger in the punk's face. "You don't need to make fun of how nervous people are, or how they were born! She deserves to have people like her, because she's really nice and cool- unlike you."

Surprisingly, Angie seemed slightly taken-aback. "Jeez, _sor-ry._" She sassed, turning away.

Young look surprised, too. "Jeez, now I kinda regret helping to vote you out." He whispered.

At the boy's comment, Yuki drew her hand back in surprise. A triumphant smile played her lips as she crossed her arms, satisfied.

Young looked back up to the Aftermath host and raised a hand. "Could I ask another question?"

Topher hadn't been paying attention, staring deeply into a hand mirror. "Huh? Oh! You guys are already done arguing. Well, time for the next segment!"

He walked to the other side of the stage, so that the middle was unobstructed. "We're going to play a little game that you can play to help your friends still in the game! So tell me, who's interested?"

Young immediately shot his hand in the air, Yuki raised hers with a smile, Angie raised a brow, and Cathy licked the back of her glove.

"C'mooooon Angie!" The host whined.

Angie groaned again. "Whatever." She finally complied. "I'll waste my time playing for someone I don't care about." She complained.

"Amazing!" Topher cheered, jumping and clicking his heels. "This episode is going so well!" He shook his head, collecting himself. "Anyway, in this, you're going to be playing for a token," On the screen, the show's logo was replaced with a token of each kind. "To be given to someone on the show. Now, you have to claim which person and type of token you want, because there can be no repeats amongst you-"

"Alexandra, invincibility token!" Young immediately demanded.

The yellow token on the screen was grayed out, leaving the red and blue one.

"So now you can't claim for the invincibility token, nor can you choose Alexandra! Whose next?" Topher turned to the Loser Crew.

Yuki turned her head down in thought, eyes drifting over to see if Angie was about to say something. But she was just met with the punk's blue eyes staring at her.

Yuki shot her head up, ready to ask what she was looking at, but Angie calmly said, "I take whatever's left, so you can go first."

Yuki's eyes widened. "O- okay?" She said, confused at the niceness.

The gamer looked at the screen. "Well, I guess I have to choose Yvette for the double vote token... to help vote out Scott, like you said!"

"Or Tabitha." Young cut in hopefully.

As the red token turned grey on the screen, Topher informed, "Okay- Angie, this means that you have to take the Safety Vote Token. But who will you be playing for?" Topher questioned.

Angie took a second. "I guess Casper?" She answered, shrugging.

The rest of the teenagers, including Topher, were silent. "Okay... but why?"

"Because..." Angie seemed weirded out by everyone's staring at her. "I think... he might be able... to win the game?"

Yuki tapped her chin, a grin forming on her face. "When I got onto you about making fun of my friend, you acted like you didn't even realize you had done it." She stated.

Angie cocked her head angrily. "So?"

Despite his bad mood, Young picked up on what was happening, and let a small smirk play on his own face. "You had said it right after you asked if she and Casper were a thing."

"It sounds like maybe..." Topher continued. "You were..."

"JEALOUS?" They said in unison. All three of them leaned closer to the punk, making her tense up. Even Cathy paused her self bath and looked over inquisitively (though she was just trying to figure out if they were surrounding Angie because she had food, as is Cathy's priority).

Angie froze. "Jealous of _what!?_" She bit back, grabbing faces and shoving them away.

"It makes so much sense!" The screen changed to clips of video, all of them containing Angie and Casper. "He's the one you gave most of your time to, the only one you seemed to care about what he was doing!"

"That- that doesn't mean shit!" Angie screamed, not able to take her eyes off the screen. There she was, in so many scenes, talking to Casper, giving him her jacket, keeping him from getting squashed... trying to stop him from saving another girl.

"No no no! You're wrong!" She grabbed her braids and pulled them, clenching hers eyes. "I would never like a nerd like him!"

"Keep telling yourself that!" Yuki and Topher sang, Young shaking his head with a smirk.

Cathy decided that Angie did indeed _not_ have food, confirmed her suspicions of humans being weird and dumb, and continued licking her pants.

"Don't we have a game or something to do!?" Angie yelled.

Topher's eyes widened. "Oops, right! Okay, so each of you are going to be in a live video chat with one of your fans."

Yuki clapped her hands together. "Woah, fans?" She smiled brightly.

"Yep! But in order to win the game, you gotta keep your cool and answer all their questions calmly for a whole two minutes." He instructed. "If more than one person manages, then a second round will be given."

Young shrugged to the other two that were playing. "Two minutes sounds easy enough."

"I can't wait!" Yuki chimed.

"Jason Young, since you claimed your token first, you will be the first one to go up." Topher waved to the seat in the middle.

Young smiled. "I won't let my baby down!" He cheered, prompting the audience to as well. He sat in the chair and swiveled it to face the screen.

"If she's even in her right mind to use the thing." Angie muttered under her breath.

"Okay, let's begin!" Topher pressed a button, and a small square appeared in the corner, showing Young's face to the crowd. "First fan of Young, coming up!"

The rest of the screen lit up, showing a teenager with brown skin, light brown eyes with glasses, and long brown hair. When she realized her video call had made it, she clasped her hands over her mouth and let out a squeal.

"Ellen from Florida, you're a member of our game!" Topher called to the screen. "Feel free to say and ask whatever you like!"

"Oh my god, oh jeez!" Ellen waved her hands in front of her, breathing deeply with a smile to match. "I can't believe I'm talking to _the_ Jason Young!"

Young's face lifted. "I've never been called 'the' anything before." He smiled.

Ellen stared at his smile, before she clapped her face with her hands and screamed.

Young cringed a bit, but he was still genuinely happy that just his presence was causing this girl to be so excited.

"I love you so much!" Ellen gushed. Young opened his mouth to thank her, but she wasn't done. "I'm so glad you broke up with Alexandra!"

"...What?" Young was so surprised that his face was still stuck in a smile.

The teenager's eyes sparkled. "It's practically official, and the fandom couldn't be happier! Everybody _hates_ the Aleyoung ship- it's so annoying! You're way better on your own."

Angie snorted, biting her lip to keep from cackling. Yuki brought a hand to her mouth in worry.

"Wh- why would you say that?" Young whispered. Louder, he said, "Me and Alexandra are never going to break up!"

Ellen shrugged. "You might think that, but people have made essays proving how you guys won't last 'till the end of the season-"

"I'm done." Young threw up his arms and walked back towards his seat between Angie and Yuki. As he did, the video call abruptly cut off.

"Aaaaand Young loses with only forty-three seconds!" Topher claimed.

"What kind of fan would say that!?" Young fumed, crossing his arms.

"They're just hoping you're single, I bet." Yuki tried to console the nice guy, before standing up.

"Ya sure you want to go up?" Young asked her.

Yuki waved an unconcerned hand. "Of course! I bet yours was so bad because you're a boy, so I'll be fine!" She walked over and jumped in the seat.

"All right Yuki, say hello to..." Topher pressed a button, the screen showing a small, pudgy pale girl with short, curly black hair. "Maria from Texas!"

As Maria began screaming, Yuki beamed. "Hey!" Yuki greeted, waving a hand.

"Hiiiii!" The girl yelled back. "I can't wait to tell mom I'm on tv!"

"I bet she'll be proud!" Yuki said back. "I know mine probably is."

"I'm your biggest fan!" Maria shouted, getting closer to her webcam. "I have a blog that I put all of my fanfiction on! You should read them!"

"I would if I could, but the people here won't let me use the computer or anything." Yuki sighed, before smiling back up to the screen. "But that's awesome!"

"You really think so!?" Maria clasped her hands. "Thanks! My most popular one has, like, seven favs! I ship you so hard with Yvette!"

Yuki's smile was a little smaller. "Oh, well, I'm actually straight- me and Yvette are just friends."

"Yeah, I know, but it would be the best ship of you weren't!" Maria seemed a bit sheepish as she admitted, "To be honest, my OTP is you x Yvette x Chloe."

"That's... kinda weird." Yuki's eyes shifted. "And it would also never happen." She added.

"Aww!" The fan whined. "Oh well- but I'll still write it! Creative license!"

Yuki leaned back. "I really don't think you should-" She shook her head violently and smiled again, strained as it was. "Got any other ships? That don't involve me?"

Maria beamed. "Hell yeah! Oops, don't tell mom I said that word. But I totally ship Alexandra x Jacque-"

Young visible cringed.

"Marshall x Scott, Scott x Casper, Scott x Marshall x Casper, Ray x Ace, Ace x Angie-"

"Ech!" Angie cringed at the thought.

"Vera x Tabitha, Tabitha x Chloe-" Maria went on listing practically every group of characters that had spoken to or looked at each other at least once.

"I'm sorry, but your time is up!" Topher claimed, cutting her off. "Thank you for calling!" He said as he ended it. "Yuki, you're the first one to last two minutes, you may sit down now."

Doing as told, Yuki muttered, "She seemed nice, but gosh, I thought I as going to puke..."

Angie stood up. "Let's get this over with."

"Are you ready?" Topher prompted her.

"After those terrible displays, how much worse could mine be?" Angie said dismissively.

"Good attitude!" Yuki called to her. "Don't want to disappoint your _boyfriend_."

Angie growled back at her, then turned towards the screen as it was connecting to someone. "Hello, Total Drama fan!" Topher greeted as the person came into view. "Everyone, meet Tiffany-"

"I would hardly call myself a fan." The girl said, tucking a strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear. She had a perfect smile as she looked over Angie with blue eyes.

"Oh, it's _you_." Angie said bitterly, eyes growing dark. "Can't believe you'd be this low."

"What are you talking about?" Tiffany laughed, showing no malice. "After that big show you made before you left, I figured you _wanted_ us to go out of our way!"

"No, I'm pretty sure I said I wanted as far away from you and all your plastic clicks as I could be." Angie sneered.

The girl rubbed her chin, acting as if she was thinking hard. "What did you say? 'I'll show you bitches just how much better I am?'" Tiffany then began to giggle. "Yep, you sure showed us, with your fourteenth place!"

"You would have jumped off the island yourself the first time your nail broke." Angie spat back.

"At least I wouldn't have paraded myself around town, acting like I was already a champion." Tiffany tsked, shaking her head in disappointment. Playing with her nail, she said as if it were an off-handed statement, "No wonder your mother doesn't talk about you much."

Angie's scowl deepened, then her whole face lit up with a sudden idea. Acting surprised, she gasped. "She does too!"

Taking the bait with a grin, Tiffany smiled. "Oh, you poor dear, she grimaces at the mention of you!"

For a good minute, Tiffany continued tearing Angie down, the punk leading her down a path of opportunities. Finally, Angie flung the chair back and leaned towards the screen, smiling.

"Well Tiffany, I guess you _are_ better than me! Funny- I never thought that would be the case, considering you've had plastic surgery on your nose when your boyfriend complained about it, only to dump you a week later!" As her classmate's eyes widened, Angie continued in the fake friendliness. "Or that time you wanted to be the star of the football party, you came to school so drunk you puked inside your locker!"

Mouth agape, Tiffany turned her head away and shut off the call. Dusting off her hands, she said. "There, exactly two minutes."

"Er... yeah, but that display of yours kinda counts as losing your cool." Topher informed.

Angie eyed him, then turned back to her original seat unconcerned. "Eh, 'was worth it."

When she sat back down, Yuki was gaping at her. "Who was that chick!?" She exclaimed.

"Just one of the girls back home." Angie said nonchalantly. " I told you they're scum."

Topher pranced back to the center of the stage, broad smile returned. "With Yuki as our winner, we conclude this first Aftermath. Have a great day, and don't miss me too much- your host of Total, Drama, Aftermath!" He cheered, throwing up his arms once again.

The audience clapped as the camera panned out, showing Yuki waving at it, Young doing so as well, but not as happily, Angie kept her content smile, and Cathy clawed at her chair.

**Seeing as this was short, I guess I'll take the opportunity to make a long author note here.  
I love writing this story, and I really hope all of you are enjoying it! I really couldn't have asked for a better group of people to write for- you're all so patient and give me lots of feedback, and I can't describe how much spark your comments give me! Thank you.  
I apologize for not having a fair amount of attention to all the cast members this chapter, but it was mostly meant to be for the people who's characters are out of the running. I know Yvette and Alexandra were mentioned way more than others still in the game- heck, some weren't mentioned at all- but this is because they are the people that the Loser Crew were most concerned about. Angie was secretly jealous of Yvette, Yuki was concerned for her, and Alexandra is Young's whole world- so they got talked about the most. Again, I'm sorry, and the others will return next chapter.  
Now I'm going to list some questions that I've been dying to ask! They are all optional, so don't feel obligated to answer if you don't want to.  
•What was your favorite line/scene involving your character?  
•What was your favorite line/scene NOT involving your character?  
•Who do you think will get voted off next? (Don't worry, I already have the order planned out, but I'd like to see your predictions!)  
•What placement do you think your character will get in the game?  
•What was your favorite challenge so far?  
•What do you want to know the most in the story so far?**


	10. Weed 'Em Out!

"I knew this would be for something stupid." Jacque groaned.

Ace peered up from the clipboard he was holding just as Jacque fell on to one of the beds in the girls' cabin. Earlier at breakfast Ace had called for a Thrashing Trout meeting, and Chloe had mentioned that the cabin she was staying in would be easy to clear out, due to the lack of girls as of late.

"Young's parting words were for us to find the culprit of Alexandra's hypnotism, and I think we at least owe him that." Ace stated, scribbling something down.

"You say it as if he died..." Marshall whispered, face tensing.

Chloe shrugged. "It sounded like he did- on the inside. I feel kinda bad for trying to vote her out, so... what could it hurt to try?"

Jacque rolled his eyes. "Unlike you all, I don't enjoy wasting my time."

"We're all here right now, aren't we?" Ace spoke up, lowering the clipboard. "Okay! So, I'm separating the list of suspects in two groups- possible culprits, and those who definitely aren't." He twisted the paper to the others, tapping the 'NOT' side, the only names being his and Young's.

"You can put me on the _not_ side!" Chloe declared. "No way would I _dream_ of doing a thing like this!"

Ace nodded and wrote her name down.

"Oh! Write me there too!" Marshall proclaimed, raising his hand. "As jealous as I am of the talent it must have took, I don't know why I would want to sabatoge my new team."

Ace continued writing, then showed them the list, showing four innocent names. "Okay, this is progress-"

"You're just going to take their word for it?" Jacque shot up from the bed, staring at Ace incredulously.

"Hm?" Ace's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Of course! Their reasoning is sound-"

"Or it's _bullshit_." Jacque spat. "Do you think if one of them had done it, they wouldn't come up with a cover-up? Hell, this loser's only been with us for a day and you trust him?" He waved an arm at Marshall.

"Are _you_ innocent?" Chloe shot back at him, peering over her glasses.

Jacque turned to her stone-faced. "I won't even humor you." He stated lowly.

"So you're a suspect." Chloe continued. "I suggest you stop talking and let the people who actually care continue." She whipped her head around, facing Ace again.

Ace stared at her for a second, then went back to the chart. "B- back to the matter at hand-"

"You do trust me, right!?" Marshall cut in, voice high from worry. "I really didn't do it, I swear!"

"I believe you, I believe you!" Ace assured, waving his hand frantically to get Marshall to stop freaking out. "We really need to finish this, you guys!" He practically begged, hugging the clipboard to himself.

Chloe leaned on her crossed knees. "Well... you can put Williams on the innocent side, because he was with me the whole time."

"By that logic, you can put down Ray as well." Marshall added. After a pause, he coundn't help but inforce it with, "Because he was me."

"Okay... who do you think would do this?" Ace asked as he wrote the two names down on the 'NOT' side.

"I can think of someone." Chloe said darkly, cocking her head to a certain convict.

Ace noticed and reluctantly jotted down Jacque on the suspect side.

"This is right up Scott's ally." Marshall hissed.

Tapping her chin, Chloe continued with, "I wouldn't put it past Tabitha either."

Finally, Ace started to brighten up. "This is good, you guys!" He chirped as he wrote.

"But, y'know, I had landed with Williams, Scott, Casper, and Young at first- and we kinda ditched the other three. I don't see how Young would have let either of them do this if he was with them." Chloe pondered.

Ace's eyes grew. "I see..." He crossed out Scott's name on the suspects side and out him on the other, writing Casper's below it.

From the back of the room, Jacque spoke up. "I went with Vera, and the two weird chicks from the other team went together."

"Yvette wouldn't have it in her, I'm positive." Chloe said. "And she would have said something by now if Tabitha had done it."

After more writing, Ace looked up. "The only person not written down is Vera. Does she fit under the suspects?"

"No way!" Marshall exclaimed. "She wants to lose the challenges, what would she gain from this?"

"I see..." Ace murmured. By the time he was done, his expression went odd at the sight of only one suspect, of who was Jacque.

Chloe peered over the top of the paper and grunted. "Guess that settles it then."

"Hold on..." Ace cut in, thinking deeply. "There has to be someone we forgot- this seems too straight-forward."

From the back of the room, Jacque lay silent on the bed, his eyebrows creased in worry as he stared at his own knee.

Marshall hummed slowly, before meeting Ace's eyes. "It could be possible... maybe... for Alexandra to have hypnotized herself?"

Chloe's face went blank. "Why in the world would she ever do that?"

"By accident!" Marshall exclaimed high-pitched. Clearing his throat, he said more calmly, "I've read about it happening before- and Chris was kinda vague when he said the culprit was still on the island."

"Then how would he expect her to be able to un-do it?" Chloe pressed.

Marshall shrugged.

"If it's possible, then we'll have to investigate it." Ace decided, writing Alexandra under the possible culprit side, under the crossed-out names of Scott and Tabitha. "I guess... meeting adjourned?"

The three stood up, Jacque still pretending to pay them no mind. "I'll start questioning the prime suspect soon." Chloe said with a pointed look at the convict before walking out of the cabin.

"Yeah, and I'll see what I can do about this hypnosis stuff," Marshall added before he left. "I bet I can come up with a plan B- in case we need one, y'know?" He asked, looking at Ace hopefully.

Ace gave him a gracious smile. "Thank you Marshall, you're really a big help."

Marshall's face grew a wide grin at the knowledge before he turned and left.

Now that only two Trout were left, Ace sighed at the chart he had made.

"...You're not really going to take everyone's word for it, right?" Jacque spoke, though Ace had his back to him and Jacque was still staring down at the bed.

A pause was held in the air, Ace tightening his grip on the board. "Did you- did you do it?"

"No." He said plainly. "Who does that leave you with?"

Without looking at the chart, Ace sighed. "Nobody and a long-shot idea."

The brown-skinned man stood from the bed and passed the timid boy. "Then you better have another piece of paper."

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
Flipping the first chart over the clip board, Ace scratched down an identical, blank one. "I really, really hate to do this, but Jacque is right. This is the only logical way to go about this." A few seconds later, he presented what he had so far, which were two names. "The only people I absolutely know didn't do it are myself and Young, because I was with him during the time she must have been hypnotized. Other than this, I can't say anything else for certain... but it might be better if I don't tell the others about my second chart. I don't want them to think that I'm against them or anything!"  
_*End Confessional*  
_/

Chris McClean walked down to the area with scattered boulders, finally spotting the sitting form of Yvette. Tapping her shoulder, her head shot up, eyes wide.

"Oh! Y- yes, s- sir?" She stuttered, quickly shutting her sketchbook.

He held a paper bag down to her, face eerily stoic. "Courtesy of the Aftermath Show." He said calmly.

"Um..." She held her hands out to it, which he dropped it in, and walked away immediately. "Th- thank you!" She tried to call back.

Not sure what to expect, her fingers lowered an end of the bag's opening, revealing a tiny object and a slip of paper. When she took them out to inspect them, she found that she had a red token.

_"I thought you could use a little help voting out Scott!"_ The paper read, a smile face drawn next to it. _"From your great friend, Yuki."_

Yvette's eyes widened. "Wow..." Then her face immediately went red in shock as she read the back of the note.

_"PS: I can't believe you never told us you were a lesbian! I could've hooked you up with someone, man!"_ Squeaking in embarrassment, the albino crammed it back in the bag, deciding to never do anything again.

"So the big question for us is: are we safe from losing?" Ray pondered aloud, pacing in front of an exasperated Scott. "OR is this new development of the other team a way that can be used to catch us off guard?"

Scott ran a hand through his hair angrily. "There's no, possible, way we can lose now! Why are you still contemplating things!? There's nothing to contemplate!" He yelled hysterically.

Ray glowered at Scott the best he could behind his sunglasses. "Would you mind keeping it down?" He hissed.

Scott seethed. "Yes! I would! Why? Because you made me follow you a mile into the woods so 'no one would hear us!' So I'll scream all I damn want!"

"I'm doing all of this for nothing but your own gain, Scott." Ray stated, crossing his arms.

"Oh yeah right!" Scott scoffed, cocking his head in disbelief. "With the way you've been acting, you'll probably cross me the second you get the chance."

Inwardly, Ray gulped. "Not true." He informed, shifting his head away. "Never heard of tough love before, huh?"

Scott raised a brow. Ray turned away from him fully. "I'm doing this because I care about you."

The Player's entire face went surprised, a slow red creeping up on his cheeks. He stayed like that for a moment, before shaking his head wildly, the blush vanishing. "Whatever." Scott murmured.

"Will you listen to me now?" Ray asked, turning back to the taller boy. Luckily for Scott, Ray hadn't noticed a thing.

"What team are you on?" Williams spoke up to his teammate across from him at the breakfast table.

Tabitha gave him a dumb look. "Correct me if I'm wrong Beef, but you've been here since day one, right?"

Williams snorted. "Not what team in the game," He clarified. "What side are you on in this apparent split between the Ants?"

"Oh! You mean pro or anti Scott?" Tabitha drummed her spoon against her empty tray. "Why do you care 'bout 'lil 'ol me's opinion?" She pressed, not answering.

"I tried to stay out of it before, but now that I'm one of you guys- I guess I have to pick a side." Williams explained. "It would help to know where everyone else stands."

Tabitha hummed, feigning thoughtful thinking.

"But to be perfectly honest?" Williams continued, eyes set aside. "This is a dangerous ploy Vera is taking."

"Heh, yeah, I ain't much for it myself!" Tabitha scoffed to herself. "I should be playing leader instead of her- we'd be on way better ground!"

Williams didn't respond, his expression set in thought. "Leader, huh?" He repeated to himself, getting up to leave.

Vera, at the foot of Casper's bed, handed him a pack of ice. "Here."

Moaning, the chemist took it gladly and held it to his head. "This game really _is_ out to get us, isn't it?" He sighed and looked at the girl. "I hate this whole situation, so you can trust that while I've been out of commission I've been devising a plan."

"Good, the way we're going about things isn't bring up many results." Vera groaned, resting on a fist. "I'd even say we're being counterproductive."

"What if, instead of outright sabotaging ourselves like we've been doing, we help the other team?" Casper smiled with his proposition. "With what happened yesterday, they might be more willing to accept our help, and would be a great way to catch Scott and whoever's on his side off guard."

Vera smirked at him.

/Later that day/  
"This'll be your playing field." Chris waved at a large stretch of land filled with shoulder-length grass.

"...Are we playing Pokémon?" Chloe questioned hopefully.

"No." The host said bluntly. "Do you all know that saying that goes, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink?' Well, today, you're going to be attempting to do just that- but with deer!"

The camera switched to inside the grass, showing grazing deer with the two team symbols painted on their fur. "First, you must choose who will be running inside the field to catch the two deer of your team." It switched to show two identical fences, each with a water trough. "When they bring their catch to their fences, other members of the team will have to force the creatures to drink."

A few contestants seemed nervous of the knowledge. "That's kinda mean..." Ace spoke up.

Chris shrugged. "Maybe that mindset is why your team is so lacking lately." He countered. "Anyway, I'll give you a while to decide who will be what, and also bring in Alexandra from the confessional she was locked in overnight." The host walked off.

On the Ant's side, Scott gave a long stare to the grass. "So, who's going to take on the deer?" He asked hopefully, turning to the others on his team.

Silence stretched among the seven of them, two giving Scott angry glares.

Scott grew a deep scowl. "Fine." He stated bitterly. Louder, he shoved a thumb to his person. "If I have to win this thing by myself, then so be it!" He turned his back on the rest of the team, stalking away to edge of the field.

"Hmph." Vera scoffed proudly.

"I- er..." Ray began to speak up, wringing his hands.

Vera rose a brow to him in irritation. "What? You really are on his side, aren't you?" She tested.

Ray visibly gulped. "I... no." He mumbled, head to the side.

Vera smiled, nodding in approval.

"But I'm going to help him anyway." Ray stated, straightening up. Walking past a surprised Vera, he explained, "Sorry, but I won't help you lose on purpose."

"What? Hey!" She called as he passed her, heading for the lone Scott.

"It's alright," Yvette tried to convince Vera. "We're still on your side."

Casper nodded. "The plan will still work." He informed.

"No offense to anyone..." Williams spoke up, stepping in front of the others. "But I agree with Ray. If you ask me, we should keep trying to win, no matter how much you don't like your teammates." He turned away and followed the other betrayer.

"Ooh!" Tabitha cheered, stepping up herself. "I like the way they-!" She turned, face dropping when she saw Yvette, the albino's expression not very friendly. "I mean- what!? How could they!?" She feigned the hurt of Vera, Casper, and Yvette. Stepping back in place, she whispered. "_Boo Scott_, am I right...?"

_*Confessional: Tabitha*_  
"Oh man, you have no idea how much I want to join the riot those guys started!" Tabitha complained. "But I also want to stay out of the red zone- which I'll certainly be in if Yvette goes and snitches on me for what I did!" Though the actress could not stop the smile that found its way on her face. "But you have to admit, this Alexandra thing is pretty darn hilarious."  
_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"Don't get me wrong, I _want_ to set things right with the hypnosis thing," Yvette had her head bowed in shame. "Because let's face it, I didn't stop Tabitha, so I'm equally responsible, but I don't have the power to end it myself. I could tell the other team and let them deal with it, but I... I'd much rather..." She trailed off.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Hey." Ray greeted as he neared his secret alliance partner.

Scott, with an expression of surprise, whirled around to the two boys. "What are you two-?"

"I don't like you, I'm just here to prove a point." Williams informed grudgingly. Ray smiled warmly.

"That... that's fine!" Scott beamed. "Any ally I can get is welcomed at the moment!"

On the Trout side, the four observed the different stations.

"I'll take fence duty." Jacque said.

Chloe spoke up. "So will I."

Jacque's gaze lowered to her, but Chloe wasn't looking at him.

Ace scratched his head. "That's fine, I don't mind being a runner." He caught Marshall's nervous eye. "Are you coming with me?"

"Su- sure." Marshall agreed. "I was thinking of a way to use Alexandra for our own good, if you want to hear it."

"Oh, I'd love to! I'm sure she would want this if she were... in her right mind." Ace urged the boy on.

Marshall beamed.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
"So I've been asking members of the other team about who they partnered up with last challenge, and they all seem to check out with one another," Ace explained, clipboard in his lap. "Already I can rule out that Scott and Casper are not guilty, because if they were in the same tunnel as me and Young, and they were _behind_ us, that makes it impossible for either to have done it!"  
_*End Confessional*_

"-by force of momentum!" Marshall finished excitedly.

Ace nodded. "'Could work-"

The sounds of grunting and chain rattling came near, and the fifth member of the Trashing Trout was brought into view. At the second her dilated eyes caught sight of her own team, she learched forward, snarling. Three interns were needed to hold her back by the chain that wrapped around her wrists.

"Is she gonna be ch- chained up the whole time?" Chloe asked fearfully, cringing back.

"Sorry..." One intern's face had concern mixed in with her struggling expression. "The boss said we have to let her go when the challenge starts."

Marshall leaned to the other two. "Since you guys have to stay around the fence, try not to catch her attention."

Chloe looked up. "What'll happen to you guys?"

"Let's just say..." Marshall tried to wink mysteriously. "Having her chase us is part of the plan."

Ace kept his line of sight away from Alexandra. Jacque tilted his head up and sighed.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"And thus, we start the _true_ bullshit." Jacque said with crossed arms- he didn't seem worried, but he wasn't amused.  
_*End Confessional*_

"On your marks...!" Chris shouted from a few yards behind the contestants. An intern tentatively hovered a hand over the latch that would free Alexandra.

"I hope our plan stills works..." Casper muttered under his breath.

Vera's voice was set in stone. "Of course it will."

"Get set...!"

"Remember guys," Marshall said over his shoulder to Chloe and Jacque. "Duck out of sight as soon as you can!"

Jacque grunted; Chloe gave him a thumbs-up. Ace nodded at him to remind that they would have to run for their lives, and Marshall looked ahead at the field warily.

"Go!"

Marshall and Ace bolted forward, running for (quite literally) their lives. Chloe sprinted ahead and ducked behind where the fence turned. Jacque hopped over it.

Luckily for them, the intern was a second slower with jumping to action. When she was released, her hypnosis made her so desperate to destroy that she chased after the first Trout she saw, dashing after him through the grass.

Jacque peered over the edge of the fence, then down to the ground below it. "You're out in the open." He stated to Chloe.

Chloe, who had been cowering in fear, shot her head up. Quickly scanning the area, she realized what he meant and scrambled over the fence herself. For a second she fearfully peeked over it, then saw Jacque staring with a squinted smirk at her, which caused her to angrily sink out of sight. Except she was on the same side as the convict, and he just stared at her more.

As for the Wrathful Ants, half of them were not nearly as quick to action as the other contestants, since the pressure of winning was off their shoulders.

Vera eventually sighed, pressing her fingers together. "Alright, so I was hoping we would have more people on our side- but to make this plan work, we might have to switch it up." She turned to her friends. "Casper, I think we need to split up- two people help the other team, and two hinder ours."

Casper nodded in agreement. "Yeah, since we don't know much about Williams yet, we better play it safe."

_*Confessional: Casper*_  
"Yeah, that guy is intimidating." Casper grudgingly admitted. "Damn, I REALLY wish he was on our side."  
_*End Confessional*_

"I'm obviously going after Scott." Vera stated. "Tabitha," She pointed to the actress.  
"If anybody's good at being a hindrance, it's you. Will you help me?"

Raising a brow with a smirk, Tabitha batted a hand at her. "Aw, you flatter me! I guess I'll tag along."

"Yvette, can you help Casper assist the other team?" Vera turned her attention to the albino.

The small girl went surprised, but agreed. "I'll do my best... which will hopefully be enough."

Casper perked up, a smile crossing his face. "Alright... well, then-"

"Let's move out!" Tabitha got the last word in, and the two teams broke off.

Inside the field, Williams's head and shoulders could be seen, the grass just barely brushed Scott's chin, and only the top of Ray's head was visible, the rest of their bodies engulfed by the grass.

"I don't think it's very strategic for all of us to be in the same place..." Scott mused aloud, observing how the others all split up.

Williams held a hand shading his eyes, scanning for their prey. "We don't need to separate." He informed.

Scott opened his mouth, but Ray beat him to the punch.

"Do you see anything yet?" The boy sounded irritated, but it was hard to tell with only his forehead.

"Not yet." The skater answered patiently.

Ray huffed, prompting a sly smile on Scott's face. He leaned over slightly. "If not being able to see is bothering you, I could carry you." He offered.

"I'll pass." Ray responded, and Scott's eyebrows knit together in disappointment.

Suddenly Williams shot an arm out to them. "I see one," He started. "Follow me." He ducked down where only his eyes were over the plants so he could track the animal, Scott following his example.

With Williams in the lead, he snuck slowly towards a pair of antlers, Scott and Ray following, until they had to take a turn. Scott turned with Williams, but Ray didn't realize and kept walking forward- and thus the group of three began walking in opposite directions.

Treading lightly, the two Ant girls followed the path of bent grass stalks. They came to a spot where it broke off in different directions.

"They must be trying to throw us off." Vera stated to Tabitha.

"I guess they got us, then, since we seem pretty stopped." Tabitha sassed.

Vera shook her head. "No, I bet they're going to meet back up somewhere, so we can use this to get the better of them. You go that way," She pointed to the left path. "And I'll go this way."

"Wha-" Tabitha began, but Vera was already far down her path. Tabitha groaned, rolling her head back. "I've never seen someone so thirsty for vengeance..." She kicked her legs out in defiance as she went down her path. "But _I_ have no thirst! Why do I have to play along!?"

_"Huff- huff- huff-"_ Ace ran, arms swinging like mad. Seconds before he had seen one of the deer of his team color, but it had run before he could get near.

"OI!" He had shouted the code word to Marshall. Said boy gave a gasp of relief as he dove out of sight, which caused his pursuer to scower for a target. She had seen Ace- because he was waving his arms and jumping up and down for her attention- and did the predicable thing of running after him instead.

It was much more terrifying than the timid boy had hoped. He tried to keep his eye on the set of antlers at the same time, and finally, he got close enough.

Ace slowed down- Alexandra's enraged grunting got closer, making his heart pound with fear- and when he couldn't brave anymore, he squatted to the ground.

Alexandra hadn't expected it, tripped over his form, and went flying. The sound of thudding came right after. Ace lifted his head above the plantation.

"It worked!" He cried, throwing his fists in the air. Alexandra was sprawled out on the ground besides an equally stunted deer, of which she had just slammed into.

Marshall came dashing over, disbelief in his eyes. "Pinch me!" He shouted with joy. "A plan of mine actually worked!? I mean-" He coughed. "This is good. Let's bring it back."

The two boys bent over to lift it up.

_Ggrrr..._ Alexandra lifted her head off the ground when they managed to weigh it on both their shoulders. If it was possible, her eyes held even more malice than before.

Ace and Marshall glanced at each other, gulped, and screamed in unison as they ran to their fence.

"...You're really going to make me have to force you, huh?" Chloe finally spoke after she stared hard at Jacque's back.

Jacque scoffed. "Force you to do what? Pretend you're threatening?" He whipped towards her, leaned his torso on the fence, and wailed, "Nooo, don't geek on me, please! I'll do anything you ask!" He mocked.

Chloe's scowl deepened; Jacque's teeth gleamed with delight.

But they both got freaked out when their teammates slammed on the outside of the fenced-in box. "H- hol- holy-!" Marshall desperately gasped. The front half of his body drooping over, he wheezed, _"Holy shit."_

"You- you could-" Ace hit the ground, panting. "Say that again."

"You might have to!" Chloe screamed, eyes set behind the two exhausted boys. Alexandra was coming at top speed- almost inhumanly.

Jacque rubbed his arms- rolling up his sleeves if he had any- putting a foot on the top board. "I got this." He stated. "You wimps take care of _that_." When he was back on the ground, he pointed downwards to the waking deer.

"Don't-" Ace cried, taking a deep breath. "Hurt her!"

Jacque rolled his eyes to himself, balling up a fist. "Now something'll actually get done around here-" While he was murmmering to himself, Alexandra closed in quickly, punching him directly in the chest.

Silence followed, everyone waiting to see how durable the convict was, or maybe waiting to see how strong Alexandra really was. Even said psyco paused, trying to gauge how much damage she did.

Jacque blinked slowly with a look of surprise. His hand moved right above where he was hit, paused, then looked up. "You'll have to do better than that."

The rest of the team sighed in relief, except for Alexandra, who grimaced.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
The corners of his eyes were tearing up as Jacque rubbed the hit spot, seething in pain. "This, means, NOTHING!" He spat at the camera, shoving a finger at it.  
_*End Confessional*_

"Alright, let's get to work!" Ace declared, standing up. "Let's try not to make Jacque stay on that field forever."

"He's gotta reap what he's sown." Chloe grumbled to herself.

The three worked to drag the deer over to Chloe's side of the fence, which was growing more difficult as it started to jolt more often as it came back to.

"_Huff_... this is going to end up like that one time I passed out in gym." Marshall collapsed on the side again.

The other two had their hands on their knees, bent over and panting themselves. Suddenly, the animal sprung up, prancing to the other end of the boxed-in fence. They groaned. Jacque was flung into the air in the background.

Due to being in the air, his voice was soft, but he still screamed at them, "_You assholes!_" Before crashing back to ground.

Ace dusted off his hands. "He's right... we need to- _pant_\- keep trying-" He hobbled forward. "It's not fair- not fair that-" He fell to his knee. "I can't go for this long." He admitted sadly.

"Maybe we can be of assistance?" A boy's voice asked.

The Trout looked up, greeted at the sight of Casper leaning over a post, smirking at them. Yvette, at his side, waved happily.

"You don't look so good." She teased the team, though her sight was on Chloe.

"Ah, sh- shut up." Chloe laughed airily.

"Are you sure you want to?" Ace asked, standing up slowly, before memory hit him. "Oh yeah, you guys are- well, yes, thank you for your help." He smiled, wiping his forehead.

"Anytime!" Yvette smiled. "Erm... or maybe not. We'll have to see how the eliminations go."

"But for now we'll do whatever we can!" Casper pitched in, head scanning the area. "Want me to distract Alexandra for awhile? She's tossing Jacque around like a ragdoll."

"No..." Marshall finally got the air in him to speak again. "We asked Chris, and she'll only go after members of our team. She was told to 'destroy' the Trouts."

Yvette's face went concerned. "And you guys have been okay, right?"

"He locks her in the confessional when it's not challenge time, so we haven't had to worry too much." The Jack-of-all-trades shrugged, as if it were nothing.

"That's so-" She looked down towards the ground, staring deeply. "Terrible."

"I know." Ace agreed sadly. "We're doing what we can to work around it," he gestured at the girl, "And try to fix it at the same time." He tapped his fingers. "If you two could stay here and help Chloe with the drinking part of the challenge, Marshall and I can catch our breath and go hunting again."

"Sounds good!" Casper eyed Yvette. "Are you okay with it?"

Yvette lifted her head with a small smile and nodded. "Yep! All's good."

"Aw heck yeah!" Chloe leaped forward, hand stretched for a high-five. But she fell to her knees in exhaustion much like Ace had before. "Nope, okay, I still need a minute."

Ace smiled weakly at them. "Thanks so much!" He said gratefully, slowly and tiredly making his way over the fence again.

Grumbling, Marshall dragged himself off of it and followed. "I will without doubt pass out."

"To be honest," Chloe began as Yvette and Casper made their way over the fence to help. "They should let Jacque get beat up, since he's the one who did that to her in the first place."

Casper's eyebrows rose. "No kidding?" He asked in surprise.

Chloe nodded, happy to relay the info. "Yeah, we were ruling it out and there's literally no one else it could be! I don't know why Ace hasn't done anything about him yet, though."

Hands trembling, Yvette shiftily peered from under her hat. "... Are you... positive that there's no one else?"

"Yeah, I've had a bad feeling about him from the beginning, so it's only been definite that he'd do something like this eventually." She flashed a smile suddenly. "But I don't want to talk about him! You nerds ready for this?" She cracked her knuckles, staring at the deer who was trying to escape the fence.

Casper groaned. "Ready for the impossible? Sure, why not?"

"Keep that away from me!" Scott shrieked.

Williams gave him a dead-panned look, not budging from the deer flailing around in his grasp. "Can do, princess." He rolled his eyes, heaving it over his shoulder.

Scott grunted- his arms crossed tight in anger.

"Wo-ho-ho!" A voice from ahead called. "I hunted you down!"

The boys looked up to see Tabitha, legs spread out as if she was blocking their way back, triumphant grin plastered on her face.

"Good job." Williams replied bluntly, walking forward and right past her.

The actress's eyes went wide. "What!? No fair! You're tall enough to just walk anywhere you want to in this stupid-!" She didn't finish, just shouted in anger and kicked at the grass that surrounded her.

"And here I thought you would actually cause us trouble." Scott scoffed, waving her off as he followed Williams.

Tabitha continued to tantrum in place, but Williams paused before they went too far. "You told me you didn't agree with Vera's plan, but you still chose her side?"

The girl froze in place, slowly standing upright. "Yeah, we can't all do what we want all the time, can we?"

Ignoring the Scott that was complaining behind him to come on already, Williams rose a brow. "That's the weirdest thing I've heard you ever say. When the context applies to you, that is."

Tabitha showed a moment of hesitance. "Maybe there's someone who has it out for me, and I need a good rep?"

Silence filled the air. Scott tapped William's shoulder, and for once, they shared a knowing glance.

"You know, Tabitha," Williams spoke up. She looked up hopefully. "There's a way you could have an ally in _everyone_ on our team."

Her eyes turned away, disbelieving. "That's not going to happen." Tabitha muttered sadly. "You don't know my sins."

"Turn down the angst." Scott grimaced.

"If you want Vera's side to trust you, you only have to act it, but if you want on _our_good side..." A pause for dramatic affect. "All that matters to us is the elimination." Williams finished.

"I may have..." Ray muttered to himself. "Taken a wrong turn..."

The boy stepped out of the plantation, and realized that he was back where everyone started.

"...The heck?" A female voice questioned behind him.

Ray swiveled around in surprise, getting to see Vera's confused expression turn angry. "You guys lead me off track!"

Ray adjusted his sunglasses awkwardly. "No, we really didn't..."

Suddenly, the grass next to Vera parted to show Williams walking out, followed by a staggering, screaming Scott who had Tabitha crawling all over him.

"Get her off! Get her off!" The player demanded as Williams just gave Vera a nod.

"Vera! Vera! I got them!" Tabitha waved at the girl excitedly, which gave Scott the chance to break his arms free and knock her to the ground. "I did a good job, huh?" She asked up in an honest tone.

"Thanks for shaking off Vera for us." Williams tussled Ray's hair as he walked past him, and Ray simply stood there and let him think that he had gone off course on purpose.

Scott huffed, avoiding his gaze. "Just warn a man next time, okay?" He muttered.

Vera and Ray stared at each other for a moment, both equally disoriented. Ray slowly backed away towards the fence and joined the boys once again.

"So now what do we do now that I caught them?" Tabitha smiled up at Vera, who was still standing silently.

"... We need to find the other deer." Vera decided. "If we catch the deer, we can keep it from them, right?"

Tabitha gave her an odd look. "Wouldn't it be easier to, I don't know, take the one they have now?"

Vera shook her head. "With how luck has been so against us, we'd probably end up causing it to drink the water somehow and win the challenge. We have to go _way_ out of our way to lose, it seems."

"That... is the most flawed logic I have _ever_ heard. LET'S DO IT!" Tabitha clicked her heels in the air, and the girls ran back inside the field.

Meanwhile, at the Trout's fence, Casper was running circles around the inside of the fence, chasing the animal.

"Are you sure you don't want to tap out?" Yvette asked in concern to the boy.

"I... Got this!" Casper chanted.

"How long do you think it takes for a deer to get thirsty?" Chloe wondered, watching the display while sitting on the fence with her friend.

"Not fast enough!" Casper complained as he ran by.

"Chloe, I- I have something I need to tell you." The albino girl spoke up, her eyes set away. "The person who hypnotized Alexandra-" She gulped.

"...Couldn't have been Jacque." She winced at her failure to tell the whole truth, but turned to look at Chloe. "I was the first one to make it to the end of the tunnels, and Jacque had come right after, without being followed by Alexandra. It was only when you and the others arrived that she showed."

"He could have lead her astray?" Chloe offered, shrugging.

"I don't think so. 'Destroy all Trout,' right? If he told her to do that, she would have attacked him right there."

"I'll admit, Sherlock, that is pretty weird." Chloe hummed. "So Chris told you guys what the hypnotizer said, too?"

Yvette jumped. "Um. Yes." She lied.

"Hey girls, I think I tired it out!" Casper called for their attention. He motioned to the animal, not noticing that after it had stopped, it turned around to face him.

"Yoooo, Cas?" Chloe spoke up.

"What-?" As he asked, he turned, getting a face full of a scowling deer.

"Ya might want to run." Chloe advised.

Though the tables were turned, the boy seemed unfazed about having to run away from the deer instead of the other way around. "Eh, if I were being chased in circles I'd get angry, too." He told the animal as if to excuse it's trying to hit him.

"Are you POSITIVE you don't want a break!?" Yvette asked in shock.

"No, I've run from people before-" There was a break in his speech until he came back towards them. "But I d-did want to ask you-" It took him three laps around to get the courage to ask. "Yvette, would ever like to go out with me?"

With wide eyes, her face flushed. "What- d-d-date? I-"

"Oh my _GOOOOD!_" Chloe squealed. "Augh! This is the best thing ever! Omg!" She playfully nudged Yvette. "You gotta say yes, dude! You two would be the cutest!"

"Ah- haha..." Casper's already nervous expression was colored pink by Chloe's approval.

"I- I would like to-" Yvette stuttered, tounge not working in her favor. "Really, I would! But I can't. I'm so sorry, but uh, also th- thank you- ah..."

His face fell. "That's fine..." Casper said defeatedly.

"I- I'm so sorry...!" She began to shake, face in an unhealthy shade of red.

Chloe lowered her hand. "Dude?" She and Casper couldn't take their concern gazes off of her.

"Aah-!" She swung her legs out of the pin and scampered off, beyound the trees.

The distraction put Casper off-guard. He slowed down for just a second, and the deer crashed it's head into his back. "Ow! Hey!" He seethed from the ground. He sprang up and waved a finger at it. "That was so uncalled for!"

The deer bowed it's head in regret. "You know what you have to do to make up for it!" Casper demanded, shoving his finger to the trough. Defeatedly, the animal trudged towards it and lapped up some water.

"And the Trout are in the lead by one point!" Chris's voice informed everyone.

"Oh man, I'm such a jerk." The boy fretted, eyes darting to the direction Yvette had run in.

"I wouldn't sweat it," Chloe spoke up. "She's just bashful, and probably feels bad for turning you down. I promise you she'll get better!"

Casper nodded lightly and sighed. "I hope you're right."

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
After the sound of sobbing, the girl brought her head up, scrubbing at her eyes. "Wow, am I the worst or what? I can't tell anyone anything because I'm too scared! I hurt Casper for not admitting I'm a lesbian, I'm hurting LOTS of people by not admitting Tabitha hypnotized Alexandra- but no matter how much I tell myself this, I can't get the courage to do anything about it!" She ducked her face into her hands.  
_*End Confessional*_

"OI!" Marshall shouted the code word once be saw deer antlers nearby.

Jacque currently had Alexandra's attention, but he didn't disappear in the grass like he was supposed to.

Ace ran by and tugged him down.

"The hell are you doing!?" Jacque spat, smacking away one of Ace's hands.

Ace winced. "Sorry, we forgot to tell you the code word." He apologized quietly.

"You mean that retarded noise he just made? Why not something that makes sense like 'now' or 'duck?'" He held a hand over Ace's opening mouth. "Rhetorical question."

Ace's eyes squinted, which was soon followed by an honest smile. "You know, Jacque, you're not so bad. I'm glad I gave you a second chance."

The convict scoffed. "Oh, I'm _bad_. You just got to hope you stick around long enough to witness it."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Ace teased.

"Go right ahead, but may we stand up now?" The camera zoomed out to show the two laying face-to-face in the grass. "Because this is extremely gay."

Ace snickered, saying almost whimsically, "Yeah, I suppose it is, huh?"

Vera was just tall enough to peer over the grass. "I see it! Come on." She tugged Tabitha along. When they came near it, Tabitha sneered.

"Piece of-" Her boasting startled the deer and it darted off, out of sight. "Ha, whoops." She shrugged unapologetically to the other girl.

"Ugh." Vera fought not to roll her eyes and ran after it.

On the other end of the other end of the field a few minutes later, Marshall was face-palming himself. "Seriously, Marshall? You couldn't get your own plan right!?" He was pacing in front of a stunned Alexandra and deer, much like what Ace had done to the previous deer. The main difference was that this one was of no use to them, as it was painted in the color of the other team.

"Did you get it?" Ace asked hopefully as he parted the grass. "Oh." He instantly saw what was wrong. "What do we do now?"

"Trade with the other team?" Jacque offered. "But I doubt they have anything we would want."

"Hmm... I wonder how they're doing? Chris said we're in the lead, right?" Marshall mused, smiling.

"C'mon, one of us should be out there!" Scott fretted, leaning against the fence. "Chris said they're already in the lead!"

"Didn't I tell you before that we don't need to split up?" Williams replied without looking in his direction. "Get over here and help Ray with the jaw."

"I am NOT touching that beast's teeth." Scott grimaced.

Williams grunted in irritation. "Then I'll take the jaw and you help Ray with the trough."

"I'm not helpless..." Ray grumbled, switching spots with Williams.

"That's right, Ray-Ray, since you have _me_." Scott winked after he made his way to the side of the trough.

"Okay, pick it up, now!" Williams wrapped his fingers around the lower teeth of the deer and forced it to keep it's mouth open.

Scott and Ray bent to pick it up, but Scott made a big show of lifting it over Ray's head, smiling boastfully.

Ray furrowed his eyebrows deeper than ever before at him; Scott gulped.

"It's not a contest, you idiot." Williams groaned impatiently. "Now tip it."

He did as told, and the water spilled to the mouth of the deer. After a second, Williams let go and Scott stopped pouring. The animal coughed and sputtered everything out of it's throat.

The three paused to see if it would still count, and if Chris would say they were now in a tie. They were answered with silence.

They groaned loudly. "Augh, this is impossible!"

Vera slapped a hand over Tabitha's mouth the second she saw the antlers again.

A muffled "Rude" came from the girl, but she did nothing to move it.

"On three." Vera whispered. She looked at the actress dead in the eye. "Three."

Suddenly they jumped at it, and the poor thing couldn't do anything before Tabitha had her arms wrung around it's neck, sitting on the back of it like a horse.

"Wait!" Vera suddenly shrieked. "This is the wrong one!" She was grabbing onto the middle of the deer.

"I can feel it." Said Tabitha in an oddly calm voice.

"Oh no, don't you dare." Vera shot her head up in fear, grip tightening.

"Yes... in my blood..." Tabitha reared her head backwards. "YEE-HAW! I was born for this!" She cried in a country accent. Her feet dug into the the side of the deer, causing it to rear on it's hindlegs.

Vera was hanging on for her life, body dangling from the middle. "Noooo!" She shouted. Tabitha continued to ride the deer in the most jarring way possible, whipping Vera around in the back. They bounded around the field uncontrollably.

At one point, they hopped over the three boys still trying to figure out what to do with the other deer. "Howdy boys!" Tabitha greeted charmingly as they passed.

"Save me." Vera pleaded with a face of dread. When they landed, it continued to buck and leap away.

The boys stared blankly for a minute. "I didn't know you're girlfriend could ride." Jacque said to Marshall.

"She's not my- y'know what, whatever." Marshall stated.

Eventually they lept out of the grass, and right over the fence of the Trout. Everyone, Ants and all, was staring with their mouth agape as Tabitha hopped off, Vera gratefully letting go herself.

Tabitha leaned against the fence, crossed one of her legs, and stuck a piece of straw in her mouth coolly. Vera opted to continue laying on the ground.

The deer was exahusted and panting. It gladly approached the trough and drank to it's heart's content.

"The Thrashing Trout win this challenge! Wrathful Ants, meet me at the elimination ceremony, pronto!" Chris instructed through the microphones.

"I have no idea what to make of that spectacle." Casper admitted to Tabitha. "But apparently it got the job done, so good job." He gave her a thumbs-up.

Tabitha smiled. "Did Yvette see?" She asked eagerly.

"I don't want to know why you care," Chloe began, "But no, because she's been gone for a while."

Tabitha gave a shocked frown.

From the ground, Vera moaned, "This hurts SO much..."

"Williams, wait!" Ray called to the boy while he began walking to the bonfire. "We never said who we're voting against!"

Williams rose a brow. "Vera, obviously, since she's the one masterminding all of this."

"To be honest, I don't think that's a good idea. She's a strong asset when she's working with us, right?" Ray brought up.

"Yeah, but she's not on our side, now is she?" Williams countered.

"But what if we took away her power as a leader, make her see that even if we lose, it'll only hinder her more?" Ray offered.

Williams rubbed his chin. "Force her to drop this losing game, and keep her strength at the same time..." He looked to the side. "Okay, you struck my interest."

Ray gave him a smile. "Let's tell the others, then!"

"So here you find yourselves again... some of you worked really hard to get here tonight, huh?" Chris cocked a smile. "Well, let's not keep you waiting."

In the front row, Vera was smiling confidently. Beside her Casper smiled as well, Tabitha next to him kicking her legs idly. In the back, Williams waited patiently for the marshmallows. Scott was nervously picking at his fingers. Ray rested his head on his fist. Yvette had her hands clasped in her lap, refusing to look up.

"Ray."

"Vera."

"Williams."

"Yvette."

"Tabitha."

He held up the last marshmallow. Scott gulped, trying and failing to steel his nerves. Casper was nowhere near concerned, but seemed confused on how he was in the last two.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Scott." With a huge sigh of relief, he caught it.

Shocked silence followed.

Vera was the first to speak. "No... Someone had to have had a coin or something, I don't- how!?"

"Why me?" Casper muttered. Then he lifted his head in realization.

Standing up, he turned to the others. He wasn't mad. "Yvette..." He said aloud. "I'm sorry."

"Wait- no!" She squeaked, eyes filled with fear. "I didn't do this- I wouldn't vote you out!"

"It's okay, I wouldn't have asked if I had known what it meant to you." He laughed under his breath.

"I don't mind this fate, to be honest. What chance did a loser like me really have at winning?" Casper had a face of bliss. "All was for naught, but that's okay! Yvette, I sincerely hope you make it to the win, you deserve it out of anyone. Or if not, maybe you, Vera." He laughed. "...'Guess I'm just talking, now. Eh, see ya!"

He turned and walked down the dock. Casper gave one last wave before he was out of sight.

Yvette was shaking with tears. "No... this isn't right... I still didn't tell him why!"

Vera stood and directed her to stand up. "Come on, we need to go to the cabin."

**The Votes  
**  
Scott: Casper

"Honestly it makes much more sense to me to vote out the head of the party, but those two were set on this guy. Fine by me, he's a bother with too much bite."

Yvette: Scott

"I could use the token Yuki won for me, but we have the upper hand- at least vote wise- so I'll save it for later... for someone _else_. And, um, sorry for losing it out there, but I've come to a decision! Once Scott is gone, I'm going to work up every once of courage I have to come out to everyone, and Casper will understand why I turned him down!"

Williams: Casper

"I'll admit, I like this plan. I've seen her when she actually tries, and Vera can be a great help, if she was actually helping. Take away her main helper, and she'll hopefully give up her silly idea. Casper is kinda weak, and I doubt he'll work that hard when things get tricky."

Casper: Scott

"'Bout time we finally got here! Woo, we've been working towards this for a while now, and here comes the sweet reward!"

Ray: Casper

"Now, hopefully, if everyone sticks to the plan, I'll finally have my alliance partner out of danger. That is, if he doesn't idiotically throw himself back in it."

Vera: Scott

"Did I lose it!? Whatever, whatever, I don't need it! Anyway, this is like an extra victory to add to winning the million! Now no one will have to deal with this guy again!"

Tabitha: Casper

"Obviously when faced with the options of playing it straight or going complete anarchy, I chose the latter. Who do you take me for, a chump!?"

**The Tokens**

2 Double Vote Tokens, Owned By: Jacque and Yvette

**Contestants:**

The Wrathful Ants: Williams, Yvette, Tabitha, Scott, Vera, Ray

The Thrashing Trout: Chloe, Ace, Marshall, Alexandra, Jacque

Eliminated(in order): Cathy, Yuki, Angie, Young, Casper


	11. The Greatest Hunt

"Is it just me, or are these challenges getting earlier?" Moaned a sleepy Scott. He was standing with the rest of the contestants outside of the cabins, Chris having already called for them to gather. "What business does he have starting so soon?"

"You better not complain the whole challenge." Williams bit at Scott, who flinched slightly. Vera stood to the side with crossed arms, watching over the dispute grudgingly without saying a word.

Ray was attempting to joke with Yvette about some dream he had, but the girl was hardly paying attention- she was focusing primarily on the actress.

Tabitha was tapping at a clipboard held by a flustered Ace. "Who are you to try to pin the blame on me? Write my name on the innocent side, you scrub!"

"I thought you already wrote her there?" Chloe pondered, looking up at Ace.

"Uh, uh! Yes...!" Ace sputtered.

"You lie!" Tabitha snatched up the board.

"Hey! I've spent all night on that!" Ace attempted to take it back.

Chloe rose a brow. "Why? We already figured it out!"

Ace shot his head towards the geek frantically.

"Figured out that it was me?" Jacque cut in. The three quarreling turned to look at him. Jacque scoffed. "Heh, then I don't blame him for making a new list."

While Chloe voiced her disbelief, Marshall was too wrapped up in thought to care. He was fuming, and ever since he learned that Scott had not been voted out, his face was tinted with an angry red.

"Alright, alright!" Chris clapped his hands, bringing the bickering amongst the campers to an end. "Now, this challenge is easy. A game of hide-n-go seek, where you don't want to get caught, because your seekers..." He motioned behind the campers, where two chains were brought in. At one end of a chain was Alexandra, angry as ever, and the other was an only-slightly-less-ticked-off bear. "Will probably maul you. Now, I'll give you five minutes to hide. On your marks..."

The campers ready themselves to run.

"Get set..."

"We got this, right, Yvette?" Tabitha nervously smiled over to the albino. Yvette answered her with a harsh stare.

"G-"

And then Yvette punched her in the face.

Everyone stared in shock as Tabitha flew to the ground, landing with a harsh thud. Silence filled the air.

"What... was that for?" Williams spoke up, slightly frightened.

Yvette stood tall. With a steady voice, she confessed, "Tabitha is the one who hypnotized Alexandra!"

Everyone gasped, except for Ace, who threw his clipboard down. "Damn it!" He yelled. "All that work for nothing!"

"That's why you do things the aggressive way and don't make gay lists." Jacque scoffed behind him.

Inwardly, Ace gasped. _He's right!_ Ace thought. _Maybe I have been too passive... From here on out, I'll be more aggressive, and make Zack proud!_

"Well if she did it, she can un-do it!" Chloe shouted excitedly.

Everyone seemed relieved by that, until Tabitha scoffed on the ground, holding her hit cheek, "Wh- what makes you so sure that I will, huh!? None of you can force me-"

Suddenly Yvette jumped forward, grabbing Tabitha by the shirt collar and pulling her up to point another fist at her. Yvette grinned manically. "I'll have a blast trying."

Tabitha's mouth went dry, sweat beading down her temples. Yvette's manic expression coupled with her pink eyes made her truly terrifying. "Okay! Okay!" She was dropped, and turned to Alexandra. Chris moved out of the way, surprised that this subplot was already coming to an end

"Uh... Alexandra, I release you from your hypnotism!" Tabitha stated.

Slowly, Alexandra's breath stopped being heavy, and her eyes grew softer. "Whoa... what happened?"

Chris sighed. "Well, I was going to have her chase the Ants and have the bear chase the Trout, but I guess the bear can hunt all of you." He snapped his fingers to some interns, who removed the chain from around Alexandra's neck.

"I don't even want to know what that was for." The girl rubbed at her exposed neck, looking around. "Where's Young?"

"He's long gone, sweetie." Ray informed.

"Yeah, 'sacrificed himself for you." Chloe added.

Alexandra's eyes grew wide. "He got eliminated!? My poor prince!" Suddenly she jerked her head back and screamed to the heavens, "I'M COMING JASON!" And darted off into the woods.

Silence again. "Is she really going to try to swim to him?" Vera asked in disbelief.

Marshall looked exasperated. "To be honest, I think she was a bigger help when she was trying to kill us..."

"Hey! Shut the hell up!" Ace shoved a finger into Marshall's face, who quickly grew panicked. "You don't know what it's like to be alone without your lover, do you?" When he didn't answer, Ace got closer and louder. "DO YOU!?"

"N- no!" Marshall's eyes were pricking with tears.

"That's what I thought." Ace backed off with pride.

"Dude." Yvette said. "BADASS." She held her hand out and high-fived Ace.

Scott was shaking with annoyance. "Yes. All fine and dandy." He waved a hand to Chris. "May we please get this moving?"

"Heh? Oh yeah. Ready set go." The host said quickly, prompting the teenagers to suddenly perk up and dash away.

/Some time later/  
Scott was coming to a clearing in the woods. "Yikes... man, I should have followed someone..." He thought to himself. "I never was good at this game."

"But I always was." A voice said behind him.

At the sound, Scoot whipped around to see Jacque walking into the clearing from the woods. "Whoa, where did you-?"

"I followed you." Jacque answered. "Being a convict of several offenses, it's only natural that I know how to sneak around."

"You're a criminal!?" Scott shrieked, terrified.

Jacque's smug expression turned confused. "You couldn't tell already?" Scoot just shook his head. "Oh... maybe I shouldn't have told you, then."

"You _think?"_

"'Doesn't matter now anyway- you see Scott, I figured that at some point down the line someone is going to screw me over, you know how it is, right? Screwing people, I bet you do a lot of that, huh?" Jacque sneered. "So I'm going to just make this nice and easy so I can get at the money, and we can all go home by the end of the day."

"I do know quite a bit about that." Scoot admitted proudly, ignoring the rest of what Jacque had said after 'screw.'

Jacque gave him an unamused stare. Deciding it wasn't worth it, the convict pulled out a gun. "And I decided to start with you, pretty-boy."

"What? Have sex?" Scott asked in confusion.

Jacque couldn't help but gag. "Just shut up." He pulled the trigger, and the bullet shot through Scott's lower stomach.

"Ow! Hey, you jerk!" Scott hissed, covering the new hole in his body.

Jacque smirked, tucking the gun into the back of his pants. "On to the next one."

/A little bit later/  
"I can't believe that I already got caught!" Marshall groaned, sitting against a tree with Ray. "Ugh, no wonder my team must hate me."

Ray hummed. "Nah, if your team hates you, then it has nothing to do with losing- you're just so dang whiny."

Marshall grunted. "Remind me why your team hasn't voted _you_ out already, seeing as you already got caught as well."

"Did you forget that you put your girlfriend on a path of revenge?" Ray said, half-heartily insulting.

Marshall stared off into the distance quietly.

But the distance wasn't as quiet, seeing as Williams burst out of the shrubbery, holding a body over his head. "GUUUYS!" He cried, panic etched on his face. He shoved Scott into their laps. "He DEEAAAAD!"

"I'm NOT DEAD." Scott seethed. "I have to stop bleeding all over my clothes and I'll be fine!"

"What the heck happened!?" Ray screamed in horror as Marshall pushed his part of Scott off of him.

"I found him in the woods like this and he BROKEN you have to FIX HIM!" Williams blubbered, face a disgusting mess.

Ray fearfully lifted the bloody shirt to reveal the pierced stomach. Williams shrieked and Ray felt his own stomach heave. "I'm not a doctor!" Ray shouted in rising fear.

Marshall shot up off the ground. "If there's a guy with a gun out there, then someone needs to save the others! I'll show _you_ who's whiny!" He grabbed his sleeves and yanked them off his hoodie, flexing to show a bit a muscle.

"Hold this." Marshall told Ray calmly as he flung something backwards.

Ray caught a lump of hair. "AAAAAAAAH!" He screamed in horror yet again. "Dude, are these your BANGS!? What the hell!?"

"They get in my face, and I need to look tough!" Marshall answered as if it were obvious. "You'll see, I can be cool!" He ran off.

"Wait, don't leave me here!" Ray screamed out as Williams violently shook him to do something about Scott's condition.

"Are you serious, he put a hole in my shirt too!?" Scott complained without any note of pain in his voice. "These clothes were expensive!"

/Somewhere else/  
Coughing, Chloe tried her best to smile up at Yvette. "He really did a... number on me, huh? Hah... I knew he was trouble... when I walked in..."

"Oh, Chloe..." Yvette held her grip on Chloe's hand. "I was so busy with the bear, I didn't even see him until it was too late..." She bowed her head sadly. "This shouldn't have happened."

Chloe weakly glanced down at her own body. "G- guess you could say I was a contestant... Until I took a bullet to the knee." She rolled her head back.

Yvette's lips pulled tight, on one hand glad her friend was fine, and on the other hand not appreciating Chloe's lack of seriousness. "Let's get you somewhere safe."

The albino lifted Chloe up and wrapped the arm on the same side as the injured leg around her shoulders, Chloe wincing. Slowly, they started walking past the bear that Yvette knocked out and into the woods. "If we burn, you burn with us..." She muttered.

"What?" Yvette asked, bewildered.

"Huh?" Chloe raised her head.

"...Never mind." Yvette said.

Chloe let her head droop again as the two walked on, trying to find others. "... You shall not pass..."

"Chloe, what are you talking about?" Yvette turned to face Chloe, confusion evident.

"Did I say something?" Chloe asked back, equally confused.

"You're speaking nonsense!" Yvette cried.

"Saving people, hunting things, the family business!" Chloe said back, as if it was a normal response.

Then it clicked in Yvette's mind that she had heard all of these nonsensical things before. "Chloe, I think the mechanism in your brain that controls your fandom references is broken."

"What!?" Chloe cried in concern. "Luke, I am your father!" She yelled in anger, then quickly slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh my god... you're right..."

"Just... try not to talk too much, okay?" Yvette offered. Suddenly, they came across a clearing. "Ah! He got Scott, too?"

"Yvette, thank god!" Ray sighed, leaning over the injured man, awkwardly pressing some leaves against the wound. "I have no idea what I'm doing, do yo-"

"CHLOE!" Williams sprang off the ground, rushing to collect his friend away from Yvette. "Are you okay!?"

"I- I volunteer as tribute?" Was the first thing to come out of her mouth, and she winced at the weird timing.

"I'm glad we found you guys," Yvette began, letting Williams take Chloe from her. "Ray, take care of her for me." She rolled up her sleeve, ignoring Ray's screams of protest. "I have a girl to avenge." She winked at Chloe.

"I'm the doctor." Chloe responded woozily.

Williams clung to Yvette's leg. "Please don't let anyone else get hurt." He begged, tears filling his eyes.

The girl smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry." She comforted, then made her way back into the woods.

/Elsewhere/  
"Please leave me alone." Tabitha asked calmly, making her way through the vegetation of the island. "I really don't need you to give away my hiding spot when I find it."

Ace walked with a toothy grin. "But I'm so proud of myself! Oh, if only my boyfriend could see me now! Hey, wanna hear something cool?" He turned to the girl.

"No, definitely not." Tabitha said, groaning when Ace kept talking anyway.

"Williams thought he could get onto me earlier- you know how he acts all tough and stuff- and I stuck it to him like a true aggressive person!" Ace pumped his fist excitedly. "And the loser started blubbering more than a whale!"

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "For once, I think there're more important things to do than get caught up in things outside of the challenge. As in: go away."

Ace rose a brow. "Aren't you the one who likes this kinda stuff?"

Tabitha cocked her head. "I've been shown the error of my ways." She lightly touched the side if her face that had gotten punched, a blush covering her cheeks.

"Wait, do you-?" Ace began to question in disbelief, before a person came out of the woods. "Oh, hey Jacque!" Ace smiled. "Hey, I've been doing what you suggested- I'm being aggressive, and it's working like a charm!"

Jacque moved his arms behind his back, smiling. "That so? Glad you take my advice to heart."

"Ugh." Tabitha groaned moodily. "Can I leave?"

"Here's another piece of advice: drop dead." Swiftly, he pulled out the gun, aiming it ahead at the two.

Tabitha's angst and Ace's pride seemed to fly out the window as they stared down the barrel of the weapon. This was the last thing they expected.

"Now let's see... which of you is more annoying?" Jacque teased, flicking his wrist to aim at one after the other.

_Damn... simply acting tougher didn't make me any more physically strong... _Ace worried, gulping. _In fact, now my legs feel weaker than usual. What to do?_

The boy's gaze flicked to the equally scared Tabitha. She looked up at him, a brief sliver of hope crossing her face.

Ace pushed her forward towards Jacque, then turned tail and ran.

Jacque, surprised, shot on instinct. The bullet wasn't aimed correctly and lodged in the dirt past Tabitha. The girl scrambled off the ground and ran in the same direction as Ace before the convict could make a step forward.

"Shit!" Jacque hissed, running after them.

/With someone else/  
Vera dashed past branches and bushes, panting as the body in her arms weighed her down. Why had she gone out to the ocean to make sure Alexandra was okay? Now she just had a limp body to worry her.

Yes, the girl appearantly _had_ tried to swim out to her lover, but failed.

Suddenly, she came to a clearing, one with four people strewn about. Two were bleeding and wounded, one was frantically hovering around the injured, and the last was curled up in a whimpering ball.

"Vera!" Ray called out desperately when he saw the girl. "Help!" It looked like he was trying to tie a torn-off jean leg around Chloe's actual leg.

"Oh, good thing you're here, Ray!" Vera smiled in relief.

Ray smiled back with hope, until Alexandra's body was dumped in front of him. "Wh- what?"

"I think she was drowning, and might possibly be dead?" She shrugged simply.

"Gah! _I_ don't know CPR! Is that even what she needs?" Ray stammered out in fear.

Scott, propping his head on a fist, said, "Don't you just kiss them and hit their chests?"

Vera shrugged. "If all of you guys are getting hurt, I should go make sure no one is out there in pain." She was about to leave, before Ace and Tabitha burst into the clearing.

"Whoa, wha-!?" Vera shouted, before the two ducked behind her, almost cowering.

Then a third person burst in, panting. "Heh- heh- give me a run for the money, huh?"

"What's going on?" Vera asked in bewilderment, gaze set on the gun in Jacque's hand.

"Why don't you figure out for yourself?" Tabitha barked, nudging Vera forward roughly.

She stumbled, but caught herself. The barrel was pointed to her shoulder. "Fine by me." Jacque smirked. Vera wasn't ready to make any sudden movements, just stared in worry.

As his hand tensed, ready to pull the trigger, a pebble was launched to the back of his head. "Ah! _Erg_..." He growled, the weapon almost slipping from his grip. He swiveled around to face the offender.

"Take _this!_" Marshall yelled, advancing with a raised fist.

The convict's face grew worried as the boy drew near, but his worry was quickly ended when he smacked Marshall across the face with the handle of the gun.

"Augh!" Marshall flew backwards, back hitting the trunk of a tree. Vera gasped.

"Tch. Weak." Jacque mocked.

"Don't be so mean." A feminine voice rose from the shadows of the trees. Everyone in the clearing looked up, to see the figure of Yvette.

"We're saved!" Williams cheered.

Jacque shot Yvette in the stomach. "Yeah, no." He said coolly. Everyone went silent, impending doom upon them.

But the bullet didn't pierce Yvette! In fact, it bounced right off and lodged in Jacque's shoulder! "What!? _HOW!?_"

Yvette smirked, raising her shirt just enough to show off her rock-hard abs. Jacque's face drained of color.

Yvette promptly beat the shit out of him.

Swooning and blushing like mad, Tabitha gushed, "All's well that ends well..."

_"Someone please call an actual medic!" _Ray pleaded.

"Marshall!" Vera ran over to his side, kneeling down. He was bleeding from the side if his head, but still smiled up at her. "Are you okay?"

"Heh, yeah... did I look cool?" He asked.

Vera smiled at him warmly. "You sure did. Hey, what happened to your bangs?"

"Oh, I took those off. I think Ace is wearing them, now."

Ace, with Marshall's bangs, mused to himself, "Maybe I could go with that gross emo look Williams has got going on?"

"I find that offensive..." Williams cried below him.

"And_ I_ find _you_ sexy!" Ace snickered.

"I thought you said you had a boyfriend?" Tabitha rose a brow.

"Ha, so?" Ace laughed.

"Hey, don't take my role, you dick!" Scott yelled from the ground.

"So..." Marshall brought the attention back to him. "Now that I'm cool, can we date?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh, er..." Vera scratched at her head. "You see, I actually found you more attractive when you were weak a whiny... so, I'm going to have to say no."

Marshall stared at her blankly. Tears then began to stream down his face stoically as he made no sound.

"Aie... don't take it personally..." Vera tried to comfort.

Chris walked up to them from out of the woods, clapping his hands for attention. "Alright, since none of you actually finished the challenge, I've decided that you're all a worthless cast. You're all kicked off."

Everyone groaned, and then trickled off into a sad silence.

After a minute, Alexandra raised a limp arm. "Hell yeah."

**The end!**

"WHAT THE!?" A voice shouted after the screen went to white. A black silhouette floated in front of the screen, shaped in the form of a humanoid with no bound to gravity. It twisted around, waiting for something else to happen. "That was it? That's not how it's supposed to go! Nothing right happened at all!"

"Boss!" Another voice rose, form appearing from the side. "We lost all rhyme and reason! Our hold on the island was also was completely lost!"

The first one, the 'boss', threw their arms down at their sides. "Don't you think I know that!? What made everything spiral out of control?"

A third voice spoke up, "Boss, I figured it out!" Another being sprang in from the side, smaller than the boss, but still looked human. "Outta my way!" It demanded to the second one, kicking them away from view.

The second voice cursed, but seemed to have backed off, and did not reappear.

The smaller one floated around the boss briefly, holding a limp, thin object in hand. "It's all about the date!" The small one explained.

"A day can hold that much power?" The first voice inquired, leaning in to observe the object.

"This one can, apparently! Humans call the first of April 'April Fools' day. It's written as a holiday on the calendar."

"How long does it last?" The boss asked worriedly.

"Not long, everything should go back to normal by next episode!" The smaller one said excitedly.

**Yeah, happy April Fools day everyone! I'm pretty sure it was obvious what I was doing from the start, but I hope this crappy little fake chapter will get a few laughs with its pure absurdity. Don't worry, nothing was canon, and we'll get back to the actual story next chapter! Have a good rest of your day!**


	12. Running with the Fishes

Casper's boat had floated out of view.

"This... this isn't right!" Yvette sobbed into her hands.

Her mood spread to most of the other Ants, Vera the most concerned one of all, and Williams and Ray's faces pulling down in worry. Tabitha oddly showed no notice of her threat's distress, while Scott still held his relieved grin, even when he turned to eye Yvette.

"C'mon, we should go back to the cabin." Vera stood to be in front of Yvette, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. Yvette easily complied when Vera motioned her to stand, letting Vera guide the way when she wrapped her arm around her.

A content yawn filled the air with Scott stretching. "Phew, that was exhausting! A hard earned sleep, wouldn't you say?" He asked to no one in particular as he walked off himself.

Ray sighed deeply, slightly shaking his head after the flirt passed by. "You comin'?" Ray quirked his thumb over his shoulder towards the path, looking at Williams.

"Nah." Williams responded simply.

To match, Ray gave nothing but a nonchalant "Eh," shrugged, and stood to head back.

The emo boy sat at the bonfire, watching the rest of his team- save Tabitha- walk further down the path.

_*Confessional: Williams*_  
"So I've been thinking ahead, about who I really want to be facing when the merge hits. Now that the power couple have been broken, who here should I really consider a threat?" He crossed his arms, face a bit strained as he refused to look at the camera. "Overall, there's one trait I don't think I have. Call it... charisma? Likability? Whatever- basically I'm not the most endearing guy, and I own up to that. I don't think it'll be a problem in which people will turn on me- if anything, the fact that I straightened up this problematic group should prove my worth."

"I'm mostly thinking about how I would stack against a really liked person, like Yvette, if it came down to voting between me or her. Due to how many people like her, I wouldn't stand a chance." He chewed on his lip a bit before continuing. "I'm going to try to stretch my own ties before I do anything drastic, but the endearing folks around here are in my sights. And if there's _anyone_ who lacks charisma more than me..."  
_*End Confessional*_

"So," He started blankly, turning his head to the actress. "Thanks for the vote."

Tabitha lazily slid her eyes over to the boy. "No probs." She said, cocking her chin up indifferently.

Not humored, Williams rose a brow. "Did you take care of that person who has it out for you?" He pressed, drumming his fingers against the side of his stump seat.

The girl scoffed, crossing her arms moodily. After a few seconds of waiting, she rolled her eyes and groaned when he wouldn't respond to her attitude. "Why do _you_ want to know?"

Williams mouth twitched in slight annoyance. "Fine, don't small talk. I guess you could say I'm... enlisting allies."

Tabitha's conceited glare slowly formed into a mocking sneer. "...An alliance, Beef?"

"No." Williams stated firmly and flatly. "I won't help you in challenges more than necessary; our agreement would be strictly for eliminations."

"Mm-_hmm_. Why don't you revise your notecards there, pal, 'cause those are the _worst_ conditions to offer." She said smugly.

The boy gave a grudging huff, turning away. "I _was_ going to give you incentive to agree..." He stood up and shrugged, mocking unconcern. "By letting you choose your enemy for us to vote on first."

At last, the mask of acted arrogance vanished, and Tabitha's normal glee came. "You serious!?" She squealed, bringing her knees to her chest. "You've got yourself a deal! We vote off Yvette, got it?" She demanded immediately.

Her name brought a small hint of surprise to Williams's face. "What could she possibly have on you-?" He was about to question. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the actress over. "...Who were you with in the caves?" He asked slowly.

Despite the calm tone, his words made her flinch. "N- _NOT_ Yvette!" She denied fearfully.

"You sound like your lying... and if there's one person who would lie about that, then they're probably the one who..." He trailed off, but began to tower over Tabitha, shifting so he directly faced her with his back to the fire. Shadow crossed his front, though his eyes seemed to illuminate. "Did you do it? Don't bother playing coy." He commanded coolly.

"M- maybe? So what- if you tell on me, no one will believe y-" She tried to threaten, but her voice deteriorated into a mere squeak.

Just like that, Williams popped back to the normal, lazy stance he held before. "Knowing you, I doubt you had any sort of strategy, most likely by chance, but still..." He spoke aloud to himself, ignoring Tabitha's intense confusion. "Huh. I should be thanking you, so..." He held a hand out to her. "As thanks for getting rid of the biggest threat on the island, I'll help you get rid of your threat."

Wide eyed, Tabitha hovered her hand over his. "Don't, uh, sweat it." She yanked up his hand and gave it a quick jerk. "Vote Yvette, don't forget."

Williams nodded to her, prompting Tabitha to regain her wide smile.

*III*

A silence hung over the two girls- Yvette had stopped crying, but still had her head hung sullenly, and Vera held a mix of grudging disbelief and pity.

"Heeey!" A cheerful voice cut into the mood from up ahead. Marshall came running from the other end of the path, enthusiasm practically radiating off his person. "How it go? What did his face look like?" He asked excitedly, even as Vera's face turned worried. "Oh man, I just can't believe Scott is finally GONE!" The boy cheered loudly.

In that moment of him pumping his fist into the air and Vera stopped in front of him nervously, Scott passed by the three. In a quick moment, Scott noticed Marshall. He winked, kissing his hand and blowing it in Marshall's direction before moving on.

Vera winced silently, peeking over at Marshall over her shoulder. He had gone frozen, still in a victorious stance save for his horrified expression.

Slowly, his arm lowered. "Why..." His voice came calmly at first. "Is he STILL _HERE!?_" Raised to a shriek by the end, the boy leaned towards Vera in utter shock, his palms outstretched in the spot Scott had been in.

"I thought I had the votes I needed." Vera recounted sadly, hanging her head. "It was only when I was voting myself did I notice my token was missing." The boy listened. Yvette did as well, leaning into Vera's side, eager to know what had happened herself.

"We still should have had enough people, but in the end... Casper got targeted." She felt the smaller girl quiver, so she squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

Marshall gaped, grabbing a handful of his own hair. His teeth harshly grit together. "UGH! Just our luck! You know what I think? I think one of them stole our coin!" He yelled.

"Most likely." Vera agreed darkly.

A hiccup of a sob escaped Yvette's throat.

"Hey, it's okay." Vera looked down at the albino, voice softening.

"N- no, it's not-" She began to say.

_*Confessional: Yvette*_  
"Why do I keep hurting people?" She asked herself desperately. Her hands cupped over her face that she hung almost to her knees. "I can't make myself say the truth... and I didn't use the double vote token I was given. Even when I say that I want to help Vera get rid of Scott, I wanted to save it for later. But maybe that was just an excuse, to not have to do more than what was expected. What if I had used it and Chris told everyone that it was _me_ who tilted the vote? I don't care for Scott, but I couldn't bear it if he yelled at me. I couldn't handle it if Tabitha yelled at me. Or Casper. Or Chloe."

"...Or anyone." Her fingers raked into her hair as she shook.  
_*End Confessional*_

Yvette bawled with very little control. That's what it took to make Marshall finally notice the small girl.

"Uh? Are you pissed off too, or were you and Casper close?" The boy asked. His tone, despite intent, wasn't comforting.

Vera tilted her head to the side nervously. "_Something_ happened between the two," She informed with what knowledge she had. "Casper thought it was enough to make her vote for him."

"He seriously put that blame on you?" Marshall asked with interest, prompting Vera to shoot him an unamused stare. He went rigid, tense arms in front of him in defense. "Hey, Casper just never struck me as the type to do something like that-!"

Vera shook her head in dismissal and looked back at Yvette. "It wasn't like that. If anything, he sounded okay with it." She turned the other girl to face her and began to speak directly to her. "We all know you didn't do it, Yvette. And so will Casper when he gets to watch the episodes at home." Vera pulled her into a light hug.

The hug was brief. Yvette pulled away after a second, with no argument from the taller girl. No words were made as Yvette shuffled towards the cabins alone, crying.

Vera sighed and watched her go. When she caught sight of Marshall, she giggled lightly. "Dude, could you get _any_ stiffer?"

He jolted upright, blushing at her laughter that he accidentally answered her question.

*III*

While Chloe had herself stretched out on her stomach with her arm hanging over the side of her bunk; Ray laying haphazardly on half his sheets with glasses askew; Yvette curled in on herself in her sleep; Jacque in an impossibly casual position for napping with his hands behind his head and knee propped up; Marshall uncomfortably pulling his blanket up as he slept under a tree outside; and a restrained Alexandra thudding her head against the locked door of a confessional booth in her sleep- there was only one teen still awake.

Face scrunched up, rolling side to side to finally laying on his back, Ace slowly opened his eyes to the ceiling.

_*Confessional: Ace*_  
Ace was hunched over, due to equal parts worry and lack of sleep. He cracked a sad smirk as he questioned, "Does using her to keep us from losing really count as keeping Alexandra 'safe?'" He dropped his expression in a heavy exhale. "Yeah, I know she'd be on the chopping block first if we lost, so we kinda have no choice. I just wish I could narrow down the person who did this, but I'm nowhere close! At this rate, the hypnotizer might even get voted off before they can break the spell-" Slowly, his dreary eyes widened in terror. "Yikes."  
_*End Confessional*_

Immediately, his form sprinted from the substitute confessional, a bulge appearing in the door of the original as Alexandra tried to beat her way through as he ran by.

He searched and ran until at last the back of the host came into view. "CHRIS!" He cried from afar.

Said man jumped. He quickly waved something unseen away, a faint _whoosh_ sounding as the timid boy ran up. "Chris, please, I need to-"

Chris whirled around. "Hey, don't you know what a curfew is!? Get your butt back to bed!" He shouted, stabbing his finger in the direction Ace had come.

"Sir- I have to know-" Ace panted, ignoring his demands. "What if the hypnotizer- gets booted before they let Alexandra free?"

Chris ran a hand through his hair, grinding his teeth. "Then I'll force her to- happy!? Now SCRAM! Get out of here!" Chris jumped at him, waving his arms.

In fear, Ace gave a light gasp and bolted off. At a safe distance, he slowed down. "...'Her,' huh?" He smiled under his breath, despite his eyes shifting worriedly.

Chris glared until the timid boy disappeared in the distance. "...I'm doing the best I can." He bitterly stated- seemingly to himself, until he turned around.

_"Ha!"_ A familiar voice scoffed. _"Then we should just give up on you- replace you with a better 'best!'"_

Chris scoffed in return. "You know those cheap producers would never give you the thought." Smirking, he rubbed his chin stubble. "What's the matter? Why don't you just pop another one of ME into existence?" He hummed mockingly. "Oh, right, you CAN'T."

A collection of low growls surrounded him.

_"Oh, shut up, it was a mediocre insult at best."_ The lead voice arose, chastising the others. _"But with a comment like that, Chris, maybe you aren't so far gone."_

_"Surely you know that we can't use any of the footage that has her interacting with us?"_ Another voice added to back up the boss.

Chris's face lowered. His head then cocked to the side, as if someone leaned into his ear, but no one was there. _"You must know how urgent it is for Chloe to be gone before she causes us trouble?"_ The boss whispered dangerously.

The host flinched in the invisible grasp. "M- maybe I can... fix a challenge? It can't be tomorrow, I already have that one planned-" He snapped upright, realized from the hold.

More sounds of whooshing. _"Before she causes us trouble."_ One of them clarified before departing.

*III*

With a deep breath in and out, Ace stood in the empty yard between the two cabins. _"Okay..."_ He whispered to himself, wringing his hands. He brought his head up, boldly stating, "Everyone! I'm calling a meeting- information you'll want to hear! Please come out!"

Inside the girl's cabin, Yvette sat on Chloe's bed and listened to her friend joke, Tabitha stretched her legs below, and Vera hadn't gotten out of bed yet. Ace's voice didn't carry inside the building.

However, Ace couldn't tell from outside. "New info that may change the course of the game!" He continued.

The boys were just as clueless in their cabin. Jacque picked at his teeth, idly staring at the ceiling. Scott stared out a window- the one facing the woods, and not where Ace was. Williams twirled the chain on his pants in boredom.

After a good minute, no results came to the timid boy. Realization dawned in him, and he began to quiver in worry. "C- come on guys," He said in a tone barely over a talking voice. "Please?"

Marshall, bitterly sitting behind his tree alone, sat straighter when he thought he heard commotion. After waiting and not hearing anything else, he returned to his own devices.

It didn't take long for Ace to accept that no one was coming. He deflated sadly.

"Oh! Hey, what's up?" Ray's voice greeted. Ace turned to see him stepping towards him from the side of the clearing.

"Ray, you came!" Ace cheered.

Ray, instead of responding, rose an eyebrow.

"You... came for the meeting I called, right?" Ace asked worriedly.

"Huh? Heh," Ray laughed lightly, gesturing his thumb behind him. "I'm just coming back from the bathrooms, dude."

Ace's whole demeanor saddened, slumping as if he was ready to drop to the ground.

Ray quickly added, obviously trying to bring a bit of spirit back to the other boy, "I mean, you're having a meeting, though? Cool! What's it for?"

"I learned some new stuff on Alexandra's condition." Ace told as simply as he could. "I don't know, I guess no one's that concerned about it after all."

"Nah, man!" Ray responded. "I was outside on my way here and even I couldn't hear you- try speaking up!"

Ace squirmed. "I've... never been good at being loud. Zack was the loud voice, you know?"

After a second to recollect who Zack must've been, Ray nodded in understanding. "To be perfectly honest with you, Ace," He began, "It'd be a shame to let your info go to waste- heaven knows us Wrathful Ants need to get caught up on the topic."

Ace smiled lightly. "I could just tell you, and you could tell the rest after?"

"OR," Ray said loudly, mischievous smile taking over his face, "You can leave this part to me."

Ace rose an eyebrow, but still held onto his smile. When he didn't object, Ray backed away, grinning at Ace until he turned around to face the door of the girl's cabin. He knocked, politely calling through the wood, "It's Ray!"

The short boy leaned towards it as one of the girls called back, apparently to tell him to come inside, because he opened the door himself and stepped in. The door shut closed, leaving Ace alone again.

"I guess going to tell them to come out could work..." Ace considered as he waited.

He watched the door, witnessing as it was violently kicked open. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH," Tabitha shot out of the cabin, screaming as if she had seen a murder, and Ray sauntered after with a sly grin.

"Oh my god, Ray, what did you tell her?" Chloe whined, hanging out of the doorway by an arm.

Almost siren-like, Tabitha continuously waned a scream, then proceeded to beat down on the door of the boy's cabin. "AAAAAHHHHHhhhhaaaHHHH," It was only until Scott finally opened the door in a mix of silent fear and disgust did she hop down the steps again. Scott slowly looked back into the cabin with apprehension to let the other two inside know that _something_ was going on.

The girl never took a break, and only opted to run circles around Ace and Ray, who had sidled up to Ace. "Wh- what is she doing?" Ace wondered, mouth agape.

"I asked her to call the meeting for you." Ray said simply, shrugging.

"No, I- I already gave up on the idea, I don't think I can muster up the courage now!" Ace fretted, eyes attempting to keep track of the frantic screaming girl.

Ray dropped his grin. His mouth pulled to the side in thought. "Sorry, didn't think about that." He apologized. "Maybe..." He looked over to Ace, who looked back at him, nervous but hopeful. "Maybe, uh..."

"What is she on about now?" Williams groaned, leaning on one side of the wall of the boy's cabin, Scott on the other end.

Vera sat down on the steps of the girl's cabin. "This better be good, you two." She said to them.

"Erm..." Ray continued to hum. Ace's eyes flicked to the expectant gazes of everyone- he held himself okay, Ray being the only one to know of his stress because it had been told to him. However, Tabitha screamed and ran on, giving them an excuse to hold off for now.

Yvette and Chloe, sitting on the grass between the cabins, gave each other confused shrugs, having no idea what to expect.

"What did I miss!?" Marshall rushed into the clearing frantically. He scanned the scene, quickly opting to stand beside the boys' stairs. Last of them all (excluding Alexandra) finally emerged from the cabin. However, instead of step out, Jacque leaned against the doorway in irritation.

But that was good enough for Tabitha. She stopped dead in her tracks, breathed heavily, and just waved madly towards Ace. The boy, however, tensed. Ray watched him in worry, and as Ace gulped, he looked down towards Ray.

"Ah... So, everyone!" Ray suddenly perked up, turning to face the crowd. Quietly, he mentioned, _"Hey, I'll stall them until you're ready, 'kay?"_

Ace's eyes lit up in gratitude.

"It's come to my attention that we have all gotten... off track about a big thing." Ray winced at his own vague wording. "With the team switch and all, the whole Alexandra thing has been put on the back burner," Tabitha instantly shied away from the center stage for once, Williams giving nothing more than a knowing look, and Yvette creased a brow. "And I know for a fact that we Ants need some catching up to do on the topic."

Ace nodded along, closing his eyes.

Jacque groaned from his spot. "How many of these stupid meetings are we going to have?"

"I don't want to sound calloused," Vera spoke up herself. "But I'd like to say that I never _forgot_. I'm keeping an eye out, but I don't think we need a meeting."

"You misunderstand!" Ray shot back with a nervous smile. "You see, new evidence has come up!"

Some perked up with interest. Tabitha was tapping her fingers together. "And what about it?"

Ace breathed in. "Chris accidentally dropped a hint to me last night on who the culprit is." At that, everyone turned their eyes to him in interest, including Ray, forgetting to give Ace an encouraging gesture. "Y- yes! He told me that it's a _girl_ who hypnotized Alexandra!" And to Ace's surprise, every head started turning towards one of the four girls in the clearing, save for the girls, whose eyes darted around at the accusing looks.

"... So, it's obvious who did it, then?" Chloe spoke up, doing her best to shake the eyes off her and Yvette.

"Yeah?" Ace asked, considerably lets enthusiastic now, a hint of regret in his tone.

Chloe took a step towards him. "Is has to be Alexandra herself, right? She's the only one left on our list."

"The- the list... I think that list," Ace turned his head away. Quietly, he told her, "I think that list was flawed."

Chloe's eyebrows lifted, searching the boy's face to observe how shy he was being on the topic. "Okay... we're not ruling her out though, are we?"

Ace snapped his head back towards her in relief. "No, of course not!"

"I don't know about that," Jacque interjected, voice lined in harsh venom. He pushed off the doorframe to stand over the others on the ground, looking down at them. "She had no qualms about ruling her out when _I_ was the prime suspect."

"Hey!" Chloe huffed up at him. "It's not my fault some people want to make themselves seem guilty." She crossed her arms indignantly while Yvette watched worriedly behind her.

Jacque gave a soft, low chuckle. "Sure. But it's the ones who act innocent that you have to watch out for."

Chloe's eyes widened. The onlookers of the dispute- Ace, Yvette, and Marshall- eyed each other, knowing someone would have to step in.

_*Confessional: Jacque*_  
"Of course I know that the geek didn't do it. I bet a hundred bucks on Tabitha- that toothpick gets shifty every time the topic is mentioned." With his arms crossed, he leaned back on the wall. "I know I'll have to give my 'honest apologies' once they finally figure it out, but if I can make Chloe feel outcasted, make her think twice about her friends?" Jacque smirked darkly, dragging a finger across his throat.  
_*End Confessional*_

"_I_ didn't do it!" Chloe yelled defensively. She turned towards Ace. "Why would I want to?"

Ace put his hands up in surprise, silent.

"Guys, come on," Marshall stepped forward. "Anything's possible." He said, trying to aid both sides of the argument. However, Chloe stared at him is shock and fear, while Jacque let a glad smirk slide on his face. Marshall went still.

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
"That's not what I meant!" Marshall cried, face-palming.  
_*End Confessional*  
_  
"Oh man..." Chloe whispered quietly. "I wish I could just turn invisible..." She hung her head.

"Chloe..." Yvette muttered to herself sadly.

An air of victory around him, Jacque straightened and headed for the stairs. On his way, he not-so-subtly knocked Scott to the side. Scott stumbled back, then glared up at the shady man. "Excuse me." Jacque smiled back at him mockingly before walking down.

Still glaring, Scott fixed his jacket.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"The only reason I would be concerned about this is if I can swoop in after they fix the ginger girl and seduce her while she's without her boyfriend. Otherwise, I don't care." Scott's eyebrows furrowed. "Last night, after the elimination, Ray... Ray told me that he wanted us to be apart. Not, like, end the alliance, but stop talking to each other in public so others wouldn't 'get suspicious.' I had practically saved myself from being kicked off, so I don't understand why he seemed so... so... angry."  
_*End Confessional*_

Yvette noticed as Jacque moved farther away. She then looked down, and then up to Williams, still on the boys' porch. He was watching Chloe, possibly with pity, and Yvette wondered why he wasn't trying to help Chloe's case. She looked over to the other side of the clearing, where Ray was apparently chatting it up with Vera and Tabitha, saying something to prompt Tabitha to grab him by the shoulders and roughly shake him, laughing maniacally as his head jerked around helplessly. Then, for once, Yvette scowled, wondering how Tabitha could be so careless when it was her fault.

She took in a deep breath. "I know who did it!" She called out. All noise quieted. Yvette tilted her head up, too afraid to look at anyone but Ace. "I should have said it sooner, I'm sorry!"

"It's about time!" Tabitha spoke up, letting go of Ray.

Yvette blinked. She turned towards the actress. "Wait- huh?"

Tabitha smiled earnestly. "I was worried you'd never confess, Yvette! It's good that you're finally owning up to your actions!"

Yvette blinked again. "No." She was in utter disbelief. "Y- you-! You did it!" Her eyes were watering at the corners.

Tabitha reeled back, face twisting in disgust. "Don't tell me I've been sparing you for so long just so you could throw the blame on _me?_ I've had so many chances to rat you out, and _this_ is how you repay me?"

"No!" Was all Yvette could think of, bringing her hat down over her eyes as she cried.

Williams, despite himself, was smiling in amazement. Jacque was chuckling again out of pure amusement. Ace held an expression of pure terror, hopelessly darting his head between the girls. The four of Vera, Marshall, Scott, and Ray seemed as if they still didn't understand what was going on. Chloe reached out for Yvette as Tabitha opened her mouth again.

"Heyo, am I interrupting anything?" Came Chris's light, sing-song tone. He walked simply into the clearing, ignoring all that was going on. Behind him were two interns pushing a handtruck each, both hauling a barrel. "Check out what I got for you all today!" The interns moved forward, dumping the contents of the barrels on either side of the host, then ran back into the woods. There were two piles of fish. "This one is for the Trout," Chris gestured to his left. "And this one for the Ants." He gestured to the right, the only difference in their fish was that someone had glued fake antenna to them. "There's four each." He informed. "Consider this next challenge a race, with a bit of childhood _tag_ mixed in. Each group is to take their fish to the finish line, and the team with the most wins. The twist," He snapped his fingers, and the interns came back, now with backup, two of them holding onto a chain each. The first held back a rather tame bear, who only began to lunge forward when it saw the piles of fish. The others almost had their chain ripped out of their hands as Alexandra attempted to lunge and attack any given member of her team.

Chris made his way over to the bear, rubbing its head affectionately. "This is Eileen. She's a hungry girl, and will be the one you have to keep your fish away from. Trust me, if she gets a hold on one, you will not be getting it back." He then pointed at Alexandra. "And she's the one who's going to be tagging you- or the Trout at least. If you're tagged, you will be out, and will not be able to help your team in the race. Same thing if you get caught by Eileen."

"She won't tag us, she'll kill us!" Marshall argued. "And how come they get off the hook!?" He pointed at where most of the opposite team was.

Chris smiled. "Don't worry about either of those things. Eileen is mostly a nice girl, but she just HATES..." The campers held their breath. "Red. Pinwheel. HATS."

There was a pause. "Excuse me?" Vera spoke up in disbelief, her team's worry beginning to fade.

"Yeah, you better hope she never sees you wearing one of those! By the way, since you guys lost last challenge, guess what you have to wear today?" Chris asked happily, reaching behind him. He tossed the hats into the air, each one landing perfectly on the head of each Ant.

Eileen's eyes practically turned red when the hats reflected in them. With a loud roar, it broke free of the interns' grasps. Behind, Alexandra mimicked the roar, taking the chance to charge ahead. The contestants screamed, the two chasers about to tackle them all.

ZAP

Alexandra's hair and Eileen's fur went on end, and they immediately thudded against the ground.

With a heavy chuckle, Chris bent down to bat Alexandra's ponytail off her neck. "You all had no idea you were in such a- _pfft_\- SHOCK!" He clipped off the chain, but left the silver collar on. "These are to make sure they don't get too out of hand when they catch you," The host explained, going to take off the bear's chain. "So when we shock them, make sure you turn high tail and RUN. Make sure you get to the safe zone so you won't distract them from the contestants still in play."

"This is horrific." Ace's face was pale.

"There's no path this time, but just keep going in that direction until you pass the finish line." Chris instructed, pointing out the way they needed to go. "The safe zone is fenced in with the same electricity as the collars, but the fence won't shock you if you're not wearing one, that way they can't climb in after you. With that said, have fun, and hurry up before these two wake up!" He then waved off the interns, all of them walking off.

The teams were mostly already together, except for Chloe and Yvette. "...You gonna be okay?" Chloe asked her. Yvette sniffed and nodded. Chloe nodded sadly in response, and they parted to their respective sides.

"It's easy enough," Marshall said as Chloe joined them. "We each take one and trek it, I guess?" Four arms reached out, taking a fish each. "If we g- oh, there he goes." Marshall didn't have much time to react as he only just noticed Jacque's shrinking form disappear in the woods. "He's gone."

"I have an idea of my own." Ace mentioned, peering over at the other team. "And we'd need to be ahead of the other team to make it work. Marshall, I also require your help, will you?" The boy looked towards Marshall, who perked up.

"Yeah! Anything to help the team!" He cheered.

Ace gave him a thankful smile. "And, Chloe..." He pinched his eyes closed. "I'm SO sorry for what happened. I should have considered how terrible that would turn out, I-"

"Bro, you did nothing wrong." Chloe popped her back. "Anyway, we've got this challenge in the bag! Or should I say barrel?" Chloe lightened the mood with a small giggle. The boys obviously didn't get the joke. "It's a YouTube thing," She shrugged them off. "Let's get going!"

On the other team, Williams cleared his throat. "Okay, so not everyone gets to carry a fish. Naturally, I'm going to take one of them." His eyes scanned over the others. "Hmm... Vera?"

"What-?" She began to ask.

Williams drew close to her. "If we give you a fish, will you give it to the bear? Or go slow on purpose? Basically, since we decided to spare you last night, will you _quit_ trying to lose?" He stared at her accusingly.

Vera paused. Instead of back down, she attempted to keep eye contact. "...Yes. I can't promise that I can put in my all, but I'll give up trying my hardest to fail."

Humming in uncertainty, Williams leaned away. "Fine. You hide the second one." He began to look the others over again, who now seemed even more nervous, prompting Williams to roll his eyes back in exasperation.

"Ray," At his name, the boy stood straight. "You're smart enough, I guess."

"Oh, ha, th- thanks for noticing." Ray stammered, exhaling in relief.

Scott raised his hand with confidence. "It might stink like hell, but I think I'm more than qualified-"

"That's funny." Williams interrupted dryly. "Funny that you think I'd let you. Listen Scott, I don't like you, and I don't trust that you have any abilities other than being annoying." He leaned towards the player testily, Scott's eyebrows lowering in confusion. "I only helped you yesterday to prove a _point._ In fact, don't bother to volunteer for anything AGAIN." He hissed venomously at the end.

Surprisingly, Scott was so filled with shock that he hadn't been able to feel angry. He backed away from Williams silently.

He was caught in the back by Vera, who twisted him by his shoulders to face the woods. "Scott, the only thing you can do for us now is start walking, thank you." She said snidely.

Scott blinked and stepped forward. Then, finally, he came to his senses. "What is WRONG with you people?" He asked in honest, pure confusion. "I might have tripped up once or twice, but I haven't done anything to merit _this_ treatment!"

"Oh, is that so?" Vera rose a brow with her flat tone.

Even Ray sighed irritably. "If you really want to know, the merits were probably given out when you macked on Marshall at random. Not exactly subtle."

Scott stood still, and his face of shock formed contempt. "Is that it? That? Well then, let me give my upmost apologies, for not realizing I'm stuck in a game with a bunch of uptight, high-strung, _PRUDES!"_

At that, he turned on heel and stomped away, into the woods. As he did so, Vera burst into laughter. Tabitha commented on what a baby he was while laughing along, Williams and Yvette smiling to themselves. Ray slapped his hands to his face and let them slide down in irritation.

"I think that was the pick-me-up we all needed." Yvette admitted, with the majority of the team agreeing.

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"I can't be on Scott's side _all_ the time without seeming suspicious to the others- and there's no way I want them knowing that I'm willingly working with the guy they all hate. If Scott decides to end the alliance over this, fine. It was painful and bothersome while it lasted." He said grumpily. "Still, even though I'm not on his side, I think all this ganging up on him is for a stupid reason, but again, _no way_ am I going to tell the others that."  
_*End Confessional*_

"Anyway, with one left..." Williams brought the rest of them back, eyeing between the two girls without fish. "Hmm..." He paused on Tabitha. "Yvette." He quickly moved his gaze over to the short girl. "Do you think you could carry a fish and run if you needed to?"

"I think so..." Yvette bent down, reaching for a fish.

"I don't want to take any chances." Williams scooped up two from the pile. "Stay by me, just in case something happens. It's unlikely, but precautions are always good."

Yvette held her arms out, still offering to try. "Are you positive you'll be alright?"

Williams stood in assurance. "This is nothing." He proved this by flinging both around him, holding them over his shoulders by their tails.

"Okay... I'll just follow, then." Yvette agreed, walking behind him as he began to move away.

"And you guys- get moving!" He barked over his shoulder. Ray and Vera jumped and quickly collected their own fish. While they did so, Tabitha noticed as Williams gave her a smile before he turned his head forward. She slyly smiled at his back.

_*Confessional: Williams*_  
"I know I said I wouldn't do her any favors but, damn, did you see how she so brutally threw Yvette under the bus? Like, _damn._" Williams smiled in awe- a smile that lingered for a bit too long.  
_*End Confessional*_

*III*

"Pick up your feet, Tabitha!" Vera chided as she angrily dragged the girl by her arm. They had begun their trek only minutes before ahead of Ray, and the actress had already found herself a new character.

"I don't _wanna_ walk anymore!" Tabitha whined childishly. Her legs were useless and floppy, rubbing in the ground as Vera pulled her dead weight. "Will you carry me?"

"Isn't that what I'm doing?" Vera rolled her eyes irritably, tightening her grip on the fish she held in her other arm.

Huffing, Tabitha jabbed her feet into the ground, jarring Vera to a halt. "What are you doing!?" Vera shouted at her. Tabitha huffed immaturely again.

"Come on!" Vera yelled at her, trying to pull her along still.

"No!" Tabitha argued, pulling against her.

This rope-less tug-o-war was interrupted by a rustling in the foliage. The girls fell silent. Tabitha stared down at the hand that Vera was holding her up by; Vera was looking at that hand, too, but then moved her gaze to consider her fish.

"You... wouldn't leave me." Tabitha stated hopefully. "Right?"

Vera paused. Then the foliage broke open, "Sorry," slipping out of her mouth as she let her hand go.

"NO!" Tabitha cried, landing on her back.

"Don't worry, it's just Tabitha and Vera!" They heard Ace's voice call. They faced the direction that all the noise had come from to find that the boy was the one who had scared them.

"Ooh, really!?" Marshall shouted eagerly, his hand appearing to push the bushes back. "Urm..." In his position, he saw Tabitha laying in the dirt, her arm outstretched dramatically towards Vera, who had a stance of a person preparing to make a break for it. "Hi, you guys?"

"'Sup." Tabitha said simply, flashing him a peace sign.

Vera coughed awkwardly and stood up straight. Marshall noticed, and practically skipped over to her side. "Sooo... guess what I've been up to?" He flashed a prideful smile.

"Ha, what?" Vera couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Just a bit of _sabotage._" He clapped his hands together in excitement. Ace mad an unsure noise, which made Marshall look over at him and ensure, "Oh, don't worry, she'll keep trying to lose until Scott is finally _terminated._" The certainty in his voice made Vera cringe.

"Yeah?" Tabitha crept up to her side. "That doesn't sound like what you said to Will-"

Vera slapped a hand over Tabitha's mouth, quickly changing the subject. "Speaking of whom, you should have seen his little tantrum earlier when we wouldn't give him a fish. Surprisingly, Williams really socked it to him."

Marshall's eyes widened happily at the news. "Aw-_some!_ Hey, I see you have one of your own, huh?" He pointed at the dead animal in her arm. "Part of our plan is to lure Eileen towards our trap- if you want, I can give her your fish." He held out his arms, waiting for her to give it up.

Vera paused, lips twitching an uncertainty. It didn't help that Tabitha was sneering at her knowingly. "I..." She held it out an inch, but not enough for him to take it without snatching it out of her hands. He brought his face away from her arms to her face, evidently confused. "... I need to wait until I'm farther away from Williams. He got on my case earlier, sorry." She drew her fish back towards her.

Marshall regained his smile, lowering his arms back to his sides. "Don't worry about having to wait to long then." He said, giving her a wink. Then, immediately after, his face glowed red, and he slapped his hands over his growing embarrassed smile. He turned away quickly to the confusion of Vera, giggling through his hands, _"I can't believe I just winked at her!"_

Ace chuckled at Marshall when the boy came to join him again. "He's right, though." His sight lingered over the actress, a small hint of change in his expression, but he returned to normal again when he faced Marshall. "We should probably get Eileen before they pass the trap."

"Right- I'll get the fish!" Marshall snapped up, waving a goodbye to the girls as he darted away. Ace smiled and did as well, taking off himself.

*III*

"Welcome back." Ace greeted as Marshall, panting, squatted in the bushes beside him. "You did it?"

"Yeah, Eileen is on her way, and I didn't see anyone who might distract her." Marshall reported.

Ace stared at him fondly. "Thank you, Marshall. You really didn't have to do any of this for me."

Marshall snapped his head at him, face red again. "I don't mind it!" He declared. "Ha, dare I say that I'm probably the only who could have done this?" He laughed nervously.

"True, but still. I'm sure that you aren't as concerned with Alexandra's fate as I may be." He held no malice in his voice. "I don't blame you, if that's true."

"Ah... yeah, I'll admit, it's been far from my main concern." Marshall agreed guiltily.

Suddenly, they heard some footfalls, and ducked under the bushes. They smiled at each other eagerly, Marshall counting down the seconds on his fingers. When he curled his last finger, there was a snap and swish. "YEAH!" The two leapt out of the foliage.

Marshall cheered, "Woo! I can't believe that- that- isn't a person..." He drawled off, noticing what was caught in the net trap he had set for Ace.

Just under, Williams stood with crossed arms, far from amused, a single fish dangling from one of his fists. By his side, Yvette craned her neck to see their other fish captured and dangling in the trees. "Did you really expect me to fall for that?" Williams questioned irritably, flipping his hair behind his shoulder.

"To be fair, a smarter choice would have been to throw a rock at it instead of our fish." Yvette whispered to him, making Williams's expression seem like he wanted to face-palm himself.

"Yeah, it would have." He groaned. "Here, hold this for a sec." He handed the remaining fish to the short girl. With a leap, he grabbed onto the netting in the air.

Marshall stood nervously under him as he struggled with trying to free the fish. "I guess we still got our target?" Marshall mused, sharing a shrug with his fellow teamate.

"Pardon?" Yvette asked, eyes widening.

Marshall stiffened at the sound of her voice, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Yvette?" He swiveled around where she was, then caught note of a patch of brown fur close in the distance. His tapping grew frantic, until he finally crouched down to her level. "Look, I feel bad for last night, so listen to me- RUN."

"Huh!?" Yvette followed his gaze, just as the bear's face pushed through the leaves, nose sniffing the air. "Agh!" She squeaked, stumbling as she scampered away. In the distance, she heard Williams shout in surprise, and a new wave of cheering from the Trout boys.

*III*  
Panting hard, the albino girl darted past trees and boulders, holding the fish as tightly as she could to herself. She kept at it until she crossed paths with another- or more like directly into another's.

"Gyah- AHH!" Ray screamed as he was accidentally tackled to the ground with her.

"Oh my god!" Yvette cried, her face flushing as she brought her hands to her mouth and sitting to her knees. "I am so sorry!"

Ray lightly laughed from the ground, flipping onto his back and bringing his arms behind his head. "Eh, don't be, I could use a rest. 'Didn't bring any bears with you, did ya?" He asked jokingly with a smirk to her.

She paused, then sat back herself to take a break. She didn't give him an answer, so he did for her with an, "Nah, I think we're good."

"... She got Williams." Yvette finally informed sadly.

In response, Ray acted like it was the best punchline ever. "Ahaha! After he made himself out to be the toughest of us, huh?" He propped himself up with an arm, trying to look her in the eye. "No offense to the guy, but maybe they'll think twice about us small guys now, am I right?"

"'They?'" Yvette peered over the rim of her hat at him inquisitively.

Ray shrugged. "You know- our team, the other team, your classmates back home, the whole world- EVERYONE."

Her eyes went down again, shaking her head. "No, I just got out due to the other team's _pity_ when they trapped him."

"Don't be down over that!" He sat up all the way and scooted over to her side. "It works at the end of the day, doesn't it? Having people pity you to get out of things- it doesn't _make _you pathetic. I'd say it could even make you dangerous, if that's what you wanted."

A curious look crossed Yvette's face. "I... don't want to be dangerous, but, that's a nice thought..." She gave him a small, wavering smile. "That I don't have to be pathetic."

Ray returned it with a more solid smile of his own, then stood up. "Well, one can't prove their worth by sitting around all day."

"Amen to that." Yvette stood herself, hunching over to grab her fish. She stood, and Ray waited for her to move forward, but she never did. His smile dropped to concern.

"... If I may," Ray began carefully. "Which hurt more, Casper or Tabitha?"

"I hurt so many people-" She said instead, shakily. "I messed up so bad, I couldn't make it right when I tried."

There was a long pause. The two just stood there, clutching to their fish, side by side.

"You can't stop people from getting hurt." Ray told her quietly as a tear slid down her cheek. "Sometimes, no matter what you do."  
*III*

"This must- be the place-" Williams huffed as he got to a chain-link fence. "Jesus Christ-" His head then shot over to the side as he heard commotion in the foliage.

Jacque, lurking very close to the side of the safe zone fence, started to make his way towards him. "You got caught, did you?" He sneered when he noticed the emo, flicking the tail of his fish around himself to taunt him. "So early?"

Williams rolled his eyes. "What're you doing here?" He asked instead. He grabbed onto the fence and began to climb it.

"Chris said this was the only thing to keep the chasers away," Jacque smacked the wire fencing, Williams growling as it made the thing wobble. "So why wouldn't I want to keep close to it?"

"Whatever." Was Williams only comment. "Now I wish I hadn't asked."

"It is a weird fence, though." Jacque mentioned- mostly because he knew that the thing Williams wanted the most was for him to shut up and go away. "I have seen many apon many electrical fences in my time, and I honestly cannot identify what company must have made it."

"Fascinating." The emo bit back sarcastically. He lept over the fence, his feet landing on the other side. "Now I must go."

"Have fun." Jacque taunted him one last time.

Williams rolled his eyes angrily. Until he came across a sign, one with the three different tokens printed on it, with the words 'Happy hunting!'.

"...You know? I think I will have fun."

*III*

Marshall was beaming with every step he took. He was fast walking, just in case Eileen had decided to follow the scent of his fish over Ace's, but other than that, he was carefree.

_*Confessional: Marshall*_  
"It's a new game for me now!" The boy said, back straight. "The Trout may be a bit of a shaky team, but I know I have a place in it. I wanna say that I'm... like... the one that does all the heavy work? You know, I don't really boss anyone around, but I'm the the one you can always expect to pull through? I mean, look at everyone else: Ace is leading for certain, Jacque just does whatever and MIGHT pull through, and Chloe will TRY, but who can say if she CAN." He smugly smiled. A bit more humbly, he added, "And Ace totally recognizes me for my efforts, too!"  
_*End Confessional*_

He was spacing out just enough to ignore the figure move around a tree, and to get rightfully tripped up when a foot caught around his ankle. He hit the ground, but the fish broke his fall, never mind how unpleasant it was. "Hey, you okay?" A voice that Marshall was too shaken up to identify asked as an arm wrapped around him.

The person lifted him up gently, prompting Marshall to feel safe. "Haha... sorry! I was stuck in my head there!"

"Umhmm." The other person reached out with their other arm to take the fish out from under Marshall.

"Oh, thank yo-" In a flash, Marshall was roughly pushed back in the dirt. The second impact brought the world to focus. "YOU!" He seethed. He jerked his head to glare at the boy that had stolen his fish.

Scott raised a brow down at him, superiority written all over his face.

"Give that back!" Marshall demanded. He took a second to close his eyes and breath, to calm down. He stood up to keep from having to look up at his enemy. "Sorry, I overlooked the fact that you must be jealous that you weren't even trusted to have one of your own." He shot at Scott. "Just give me mine back, because there's no way your team is going to win anyway."

Scott tilted his chin defiantly.

"You can't keep dodging bullets forever." Marshall shrugged. "Face the facts. You may have been the heartthrob of every kid at your high school, but here? Not one single person is interested in you. We all see you as the artificial flirt that you really are, and you obviously can't stand it. Does it just not compute?" Marshall leaned towards him. "Your tricks don't work on any of us. A few days ago, I thought maybe you had somehow seduced Ray, but now everyone can see that he's just as tired of you as we all are."

Scott's eye twitched. He matched Marshall's lean to look him in the eye. "I know of one trick that still works."

Marshall rolled his eyes. "_Please. Ac_cept the fact that everyone hates you and give me back my fish."

Scott glared, but caved. "Fine. Take it." Scott lifted it by the tail at his side, making no effort to actually hand it to the boy.

Prideful, Marshall outstretched his arm to grab it. Whatever clever retort he was going to make was silenced when he got smacked between the eyes by a wet kiss. "AHH! EW!" He reeled backwards, scrubbing at his face with his sleeves in disgust. He glared at Scott with his burning face and a scowl that could kill a weaker soul.

Scott acted like nothing had happened. "What's the matter? I thought you wanted your fish?" He pretended to be confused.

"YOU'RE DISGUSTING ON EVERY LEVEL." Marshall screamed in several emotions, none of them good ones. "Keep the damn fish, you asshole!" He swiveled around and stomped off.

Cracking the smirk that he had been fighting, Scott yelled at him, "I thought you said that none of my tricks work anymore! Where did that go all of a sudden!?" He got a good laugh while Marshall said nothing and left.

Scott wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye, just to see a furry mass trudge between some boulders. "Hey Eileen baby, if you don't come out here to look at me, I'll give you a nice treat." Scott said as he flung the dead fish at her. The bear stopped and started to chow down. "That was too much fun..." Scott mused to himself as he made his way off.  
*III*

"Why do you still have that thing!?" Marshall yelled as soon as he saw the bait in Vera's arms. "Trust me when I say that you are far, far away from Williams! Throw it away!"

"DUDE!" Vera said in shock. "Are you okay!? You look like you just ran a marathon!" She said, mentioning that every inch of his face was covered in red.

"I am NOT alright!" The boy stomped his foot. "That asshole! That douchebag! That bitch!" He rambled on.

"Scott got to you again..." Vera made sense of his babbling. "Was it as bad a last time?" She had a contemplative expression, not sure how badly she should react to this.

"YES! Well, technically, no, but it doesn't matter! I hate being stuck with such a jerk!" Once again his eyes landed on the fish in her arm. "You still intend on getting rid of him, right? You weren't lying to me?"

Vera's eyes widened. "No, no! Of course not! I-" She put her free hand on his shoulder. "I want to help you as much as I can Marshall. I never wanted you to get hurt by Scott again, because I know you don't deserve it."

The boy took a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to blow up on you."

"Don't be sorry." Vera smiled guiltily. "It's my fault that I can't get rid of him. I did something wrong last night, I just wish I knew what-"

"Guys, guys, guys!" Tabitha burst through bushes and past trees, covered in leaves. "Because someone decided to scream to the heavens, we have a certain crazy lady hot on our hills!" She informed, giving Marshall an accusing glance.

Marshall stood alert. "Oh, oh shoot!"

Vera twisted around so that her hand was on his back, and she pushed him forward. "Go! I'll track back and try to find Eileen and give her my fish, YOU focus on not getting hurt!" Marshall nodded and did as she said.

When the girl turned, she was met with a smirk on Tabitha's face. "Did he guilt you again?" She teased.

Vera shook her head slightly. "Do me a favor and stay here- distract her from Marshall if you can." Were her instructions before she left.

Tabitha pouted, crossing her arms as she was left alone. She wasn't in the least bit surprised when Alexandra burst out, nor when she began to violently scavenge the area. She sighed.

"...Wait, wait, wait!" She shook her head violently. "Tabitha you doof, how could you pass up this opportunity!?" She smacked herself on the head. "Alexandra!" She turned to the crazed girl. "I have something to tell you!"  
*III*

"This is how it ends! My sister's going to get my room after I dieeeee-!" Ray screamed as he and Yvette ran for their lives from the brown beast of pure, raw anger for their unfortunate hats.

"I don't have a sibling to take my room! It'll just go to my rat!" Yvette cried.

Ray chuckled breathlessly. _"Nice."  
_  
Eileen was gaining on them, front teeth barely able to brush their heels. They both knew that the bear would be shocked before it could maul out their organs, but that wouldn't stop it from ramming into them and possibly crushing them. Her grunts and growls of anger were replaced, however, by a shout of animal surprise, followed by the end of its thunderous footsteps. Yvette and Ray were a bit surprised at what they found behind them.

Alexandra, with all her insane properties, had her focus on the bear, arms outstretched and ready to attack again. Eileen tried to brush off the tackle it had received in order to keep pursuing the two pipsqueak Ants, to be lunged at by Alexandra again. "... I thought she only went after the Trout?" Ray voiced aloud.

"Yes..." A girl's voice came from behind the two, suddenly throwing her arms around the shorties. "Until I told her that Marshall put on a realistic fur coat and convincing bear impersonation. That sucker fell right for it!"

"G- get off!" Yvette shouted in disgust, twisting herself out of Tabitha's grasp. "Wh- why are you here!?"

The actress leaned her weight on Ray, akin to a drunk man supported by his best friend. Ray stumbled at bit, his face showing a flash of amusement to Tabitha. "I want to show you that this little development that you got your panties bunched in a wad about can ACTUALLY be useful! I just used her to save your butts!"

"After what you did!?" Yvette cried in bitter astonishment. "Y- y- y- you-!"

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "- Saved you from the bear-?"

"LIED!" Yvette finally choked out.

Tabitha scoffed. Patting Ray (whose mouth was pulled tightly into a line) on the shoulder, she stood up, telling him, "Pretend you aren't hearing this conversation." She put her hand on her hip. "You were trying to rat me out. Forgive me not wanting Mr. Ace after my head." She sauntered closer to the albino. "And I bet he would be merciless."

Yvette furrowed her eyebrows, tears falling down her face by the mere memory of what Tabitha had done to her earlier that day.

Tabitha continued to pace around Yvette as she monologued. "Don't think that I WANT to do this to poor Alexandra, 'cause it really does hurt me as much as anyone else." Yvette caught Ray giving a disbelieving look to the actress. Yvette shared it with him. "But there was so much chaos, I got scared- can you blame me? Now there's practically a witch hunt out there, of course I would blame on instinct!"

"Hey..." Ray awkwardly cut in, rubbing the back of his head. "Ace is a nice dude, I'm sure he would understand if you undo what you did and owned up to it."

Tabitha snapped her fingers. "That's exactly what I came here to talk about!" She grabbed onto Yvette's shoulders and spun her around, even with the girl's obvious discomfort. "Yvette, I'll free Alexandra from my curse _right now,_ as long as you say YOU'RE the one who did it, and were too scared until I confronted you."

Yvette's blush grew fainter as the girl paled. Her mouth was dry as she looked up into Tabitha's close, threatening gaze. "I-"

"-I won't." She brought her arms up and pushed Tabitha away by the shoulders. Tabitha glared at her with all she had. Yvette turned her face away, gulping. "I- I'm not good at arguing, s- so, I'm just going to go-" Ray smiled at Yvette as she came to his side, walking away.

Tabitha couldn't let go of her glare. "Alexandra," She called behind her. "I lied- there are no Trout hiding in that bear."

Alexandra cast an irritable glance to the actress, then stopped battling the bear. Eileen immediately jumped up with a roar, causing Yvette and Ray to shoot around in fear. Tabitha also whirled around excitably, only to get a view full of sharp teeth. "...I might have made mistakes..." Tabitha whispered, only now remembering the red hat on her own head.

A loud sound of static fizzled through the air, but Tabitha was still crushed under the bear's weight as it collapsed on her. The animal was much quicker in starting to wake up, and Tabitha hardly had any time to squeeze out from under it and dash away before she came to. Eileen blinked her eyes, narrowing them above the two Ants' head.

Yvette and Ray laughed nervously.  
*III*

"Oh _no._" Chloe stated, holding her empty arm up. "_Nope,_ no way." She, very quickly, turned her back on the wooden stage she had come across. "Bad things happen when I find old stuff." She reminded herself sternly.

As soon as she left the area, the stage from the second challenge was gone. _"We really need to start getting rid of this stuff sooner." _A disembodied voice said.

_"At least she didn't actually SEE anything this time."  
_  
Chloe marched on. So far, so good- nothing had even come close to threatening her yet, and she felt like the challenge had to be more than half way through by now.

"Hey, is that the fence?" Chloe asked aloud to herself. "Oh no, Yvette got caught..." She said, noticing her friend sadly coming to the safe zone. "Maybe I'll stop a second for her-" Then, through the trees, she caught a glimpse of Jacque's grey shirt slinking at the side of the fencing. Chloe turned in the complete opposite direction. _"NOPE."_ She hissed in utter disgust.

Her fish tucked under her arm, she pushed around some low branches to get back on track. She felt like she found something close enough to a path, but a bit of rustling caught her attention. She pulled down a bushy branch to see Alexandra's red hair making it down towards her path. Chloe, startled and frazzled, tip-toed back into the woods, whispering, _"... nope."_  
*III*

Scott peeked around a tree to investigate the source of the screaming. He found Ray fearfully huddled on the end of a tree branch, holding onto his fish as if it could save him from the angry Eileen making her way up the tree. The small boy must have caught the flirt out of the corner of his eye, because he yelled down, "Scott! Thank god!"

"Hmm?" Scott's eyes widened, his mouth pulling down in confusion.

_*Confessional: Scott*_  
"I- huh?" Scott rubbed the back of his head in confusion. "I thought Ray was mad at me? Wouldn't seeing me just make his situation worse?" Scott turned away. "Usually I can tell, but for some reason I... I can't stop second-guessing myself with him."  
_*End Confessional*_

"Take this! Take it and run!" Ray shouted, chucking his fish.

Scott plucked it out of the air. "But- you were agreeing with everyone else that I can't be trusted with one!" Scott dared at Ray.

_"No,"_ Ray argued.

_*Confessional: Ray*_  
"Of all the times to argue, Scott," Ray shouted to the heavens, "Why NOW!?"  
_*End Confessional*_

"_I_ was telling you why everyone thought that! _I_ was telling you what got you into that mess! _I_ was trying to help you, but why should I? You never listen to my advice anyhow!" Ray ranted, never glancing away from the approaching bear.

Scott stood silent. He nodded silently, then turned to take off with the fish.  
*III*

"Thank goodness you two are here!" Vera called happily at the sight of Yvette accidentally meeting up with her and Tabitha in the safe zone of the island. The pale girl nervously shied away from the actress to Vera's other side.

"I actually didn't do it on purpose..." Yvette muttered her admittance to Vera.

Vera gave a small smile. "It's fine, I'm still happy." She leaned down to wrapped her arms around the two. "I'm sorry to keep putting you guys in this position, but I have to ask you guys to vote for Scott again if we lose."

Tabitha smiled. "Marshall really got under your skin, huh?"

Vera gazed away. "If you mean that I have more concern for him now, then yes. It hurts me to see anyone in so much distress." Yvette noticed how Vera squeezed her shoulder as she said this, and the gesture made her smile bashfully. "Will you guys help me?" She requested with an even tone.

Briefly, Yvette and Tabitha glanced up, locking eyes. Tabitha shot Yvette with every expression of hatred she could muster. Yvette's lips quiver as she looked back down. "Y- y- yes." She caved under Tabitha's pressure.

Tabitha became pleased. "I'm all for it!" She agreed.

Vera stood up gratefully. "Thank you two so much! I was worried I'd be on my own." She sighed in relief. "Well, I guess, happy hunting!" She swung her arm playfully and turned, but the actress followed her while Yvette stayed put. When they were out of ear shot, Tabitha said, "But if we manage to vote out Scott, there's somebody I want you to vote off with me afterwards."

Vera rose a brow. "I don't know..."

"If you don't, then I won't vote for Scott." Tabitha threatened.

Vera might not have been shocked, but she was certainly surprised. "... Who do you want to vote off?"

Tabitha waved her finger. "Nah-ah, I'll tell you after we vote off Scott."

"...It's not me, is it?" Vera asked in uncertainty. Tabitha shook her head in answer. "Okay, that's good. Then I guess I have no choice? But only when Scott is actually OUT of the game, got it?" She conditioned.

"Deal!" Tabitha stuck out her hand, of which Vera took.

Williams, hiding behind a large rock not so far away, scowled unpleasantly.  
*III*

"Well well, Chloe, seems we're almost there!"

"NOOOOpe!" Chloe swerved around Scott before her could grab onto her.

Scott tsked. "Not very polite of you, now." She ignored his presence, opting to scowl to herself as she walked in front of him. "I guess you make up for that by being cute." He shrugged as if she were paying him any attention.

"You weren't walking by yourself the whole time were you, dear?" Scott asked in mock concern as he followed behind her. "For the team's only female, you'd think they'd treat you with more respect!"

_*Confessional: Chloe*_  
She rubbed her temples furiously. "You're almost there you're almost there you're almost thereyou'realmostthereyou'realmostthereyou'realmostthere."  
_*End Confessional*_

Scott managed to catch up to the girl, despite the fact that she was speed walking. "I can tell you're just trying your best, doesn't it make you mad that none of them are recognizing you for it?" Chloe turned her head away from him wordlessly. Rolling his eyes, Scott swiftly brought his arm down and yanked away her fish from her arms.

"HEY!" She shouted, whipping her head around, glaring at him.

"It's not my fault. Maybe if you had been looking at me this wouldn't have happened." Scott shrugged, lifting it up just above her reach. "Aw! You're cute when you jump!" He mocked.

"URGH!" Chloe seethed, stomping her foot on the ground when she gave up on getting it back.

"Oh, you better hurry," Scott warned, but still spoke condescendingly. "I see your technically-teammate coming!" The top of Alexandra's head could be seen, but so could the top of a certain bear.

Chloe scoffed at him. "Looks like you better hurry, too."

Scott looked as if he was about to contemplate that, but he instead tossed Chloe's fish into the foliage. "I actually think I'm going to be okay." He patted the geek's head. "But thank you for your concern." Chloe growled under her breath.

"You know what, Scott?" She whispered. Scott tilted his head. "Do you know what?"

"Fair warning, I've been called so many things today, you probably don't stand a chance." Scott told her.

Chloe paused. "Then I won't say a thing." As promised, the geek said nothing else, but instead rammed her shoulder into Scott's chest. He flailed, but he was knocked down flat on the ground, just in time for a black little nose to poke out of the bushes.

Chloe laughed maniacally as Scott was attacked, but she didn't have long to savor the moment. Alexandra was not far behind the bear.

"OH, you've got to be kidding meee-!" She yelled as she was caught.  
*III*

"This is not a very good development." Ace tapped his fingers to his lips in worry. "And it doesn't seem like anyone else is coming."

He and Marshall stood on the winning side of the finish line, but both of them were without fish, meaning that neither of them gave their team a point, even thought they completed the race.

"I'm sorry, um, if you want, I can vote for someone other than Alex-" Marshall began to offer.

"Don't bother." A third voice suddenly spoke up.

"Jacque!" Ace turned around while Marshall jumped. "You made it- with a fish!" He beamed.

"Where did- I mean, good job and all, but where did you come from, dude!?" Marshall babbled.

"From the side. Literally nothing bothered me beside people complaining about how they lost." Jacque shrugged.

"Ingenious-" Ace said, before he was interrupted by the speakers.

"By only one point, the Thrashing Trout win the challenge! Interns, round up Eileen and Alexandra, and Wrathful Ants, feel free to take off your hats and meet me at the elimination ceremony!"

The three boys grinned at one another.  
*III*

Sitting on the fence, prepared to climb down it, Scott was surprised at the announcement. He slipped off the fencing, landing in a patch of mud. Chloe, who was not done climbing yet, found that hilarious.

Scott seemed to be in a lot of distress about it, until his focus went to an odd shape in the mud. He peered down at it, went wide-eyed, then quickly shoved it away in his pocket before Chloe could see. "Yeah yeah," He snapped at her. "I can always go change."  
*III*

Later, after Scott was coming out of the boy's cabin, he joined in some of the others walking down the path to the bonfire. Interestingly enough to him, none of them seem to notice him with the disgust they had earlier.

"Congratulations on being the last of us to get out!" Ray called up to him, slowing down to be at his side. "And might I say that it was a _very_ nice touch th-" Ray hushed for a second, scanning around for Vera. She wasn't within earshot, so he continued. "I'm... _impressed_ with what I heard you did to the other team. Good way of using your skills to benefit us instead of hinder us!" He playfully hit Scott on the arm, and Scott smiled.

Williams grumbled lowly behind them, coming up to Scott's other side. "I'll give credit where credit is due." He said reluctantly. "You did the best out of all of us today. So, uh, sorry about earlier." He briefly patted Scott on the shoulder.

"It is quite alright." Scott beamed. "I'm sure I was pretty threatening after my skin-of-the-teeth victory yesterday."

Williams and Ray shared a look, but nodded to Scott anyway. "Sure." Williams humored him, walking up past the two.

Ray held his arms behind his back. "So, Scott, I was thinking that you might deserve a bit of a reward..." He said.

Scott's smile curled. "Oh?" He purred.

"Yeah... How about you pick who we're going to vote for tonight?" Ray said brightly.

Scott's face fell. "Oh... sure."

Ray quirked a brow. "... Did you expect something else?" He asked in confusion.

"N- no!" Scott held his hands up. "The voting thing is fine. Let's do that."

Williams was now about in the center of the pack.

_*Confessional: Williams*  
_"I find this so weird. We all walk together and we know that one of us isn't going to be walking back." Williams said contemplatively. "In our minds we're all thinking of deceit and who we want to rid ourselves of, at the same time having to come to terms with the fact that there may be some people out there who dislike us as much as we dislike others. I don't dislike anyone here, it's just a game, afterall. But that doesn't stop me from _hating_ Tabitha. She's a liar and traitor- I might actually like that if she were loyal to me, but she's not. If there's anyone here who hates me as much as I hate Tabitha, then I welcome them to come vote me off."  
_*End Confessional*_

"Welcome back, Wrathful Ants." Chris sang as they began to sit down on the logs. "A mighty failure of yours tonight, wouldn't you say?"

Vera smiled. Sitting on her left, Yvette brought her knees up and held herself tightly.

On Vera's right, Tabitha bobbed her crossed leg excitably. Williams sat next to Tabitha and gave her a smiling thumbs-up. When Tabitha noticed, she returned it with a huge grin of her own, as if she was still going along with what Williams and her decided at the last elimination ceremony. Ray and Scott sat in the back row, but had two seats between them. Scott cast Ray a glance, but then returned it back to the host when Ray didn't notice.

"Williams." Chris called out, flicking a marshmallow to the emo.

"Yvette." Tabitha gave Williams a mock-disappointment shrug.

"Ray." After which, Chris paused. "Now, something interesting has happened to the votes tonight. There would have been a three-way tie between those remaining." Tabitha, Scott, and especially Vera, shot their heads up in surprise. "However, thanks to someone using a double vote token, that person that it was used on will be going home tonight without the need of a tie breaker. AKA, you _will_ be going home tonight."

"Scott," Chris pointed at him. "If you go home tonight, it will be due to your behavior, almost entirely." Scott rolled his eyes as if it were a tedious thing to remind him of it.

"Vera, if you go home, it'll be due to you avoiding your duties as a team member and going after your own goals, dragging the team down with you." Vera's eyes trailed down guiltily, clasping her hands together in her lap. She nodded.

"And Tabitha, if you go home, it'll be due to you not being as sly or tricky as you would wish to believe. You've tied ties that may not be as tight as you hoped." The actress glared over at Yvette, but was not scared.

"..."

"Tabitha." The actress let out a chuckle of relief, holding her hand out.

"You are the one who is going home tonight." Chris corrected, throwing out two marshmallows to Vera and Scott.

Tabitha took a second. "WHAT!?" She suddenly roared, teeth bearing. "What do you mean!? I am NOT out!" She demanded.

"Y- yes you ARE!" Yvette shouted out, not daring to look anyone in the face. With her eyes closed, she admitted, "You- you're mean! I had to used the token!"

"YOU." Tabitha repeated. "But... then who was the third vote!?" She harshly looked over every Ant. Williams was the last person she saw, and he gave her a sickeningly sweet smile, waving her a good-bye. Tabitha bit her lower lip in surprise. "Shit."

"But don't think I'm letting you all off that easy-!" The actress brought up a fist, but it was grabbed by the host.

"Actually, Tabitha, we DO still need something from you." He said, the sound of a chain being dragged in. "A little loose end that we need you to tie up."

Vera looked shocked. "So you ARE the one who did it." She whispered. Tabitha gave her a quick look, sweating nervously. She brought her attention back to Alexandra, who was brought in front of her.

Slowly, Tabitha began to laugh, of which became evil quickly. "How about I don't set her free? What would you all do then? It's the perfect revenge!" Her smile became wider. "Ha! And there's nothing you can say that will get me to- to-" Her eyes trailed over to Chris. Something- something that only Tabitha saw- made her face pale, her mouth go dry. "I- uh- fine." She bowed her head. In defeat, she said, "Alexandra, stop trying to destroy the Trout."

The red-haired girl blinked, a hint of confusion on her face. She blinked more, her pupils enlarging to a normal size, and her heavy breathing became more natural. She moved her lips, pulling them in worry when the metal collar around her neck was taken off.

"Anything else you want to say?" Chris asked Tabitha. She nodded, looking up. For some reason, a huge smile was plastered to her face.

"Oh, man!" She cried happily. "Did I play the 'evil mastermind' good or what!?"

Yvette's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you were playing that character the whole time."

Tabitha nodded furiously. "I toned it down so no one would get suspicious, and you all fell right into it!" She fist-pumped. "Who rules? I do!"

"But you're still voted out." Chris reminded her, taking her arm and leading her to the yacht. This brought her back.

"NO! No nonno! My career was stacked on this! My dreams! My life!" She was unceremoniously dumped on the boat, crying in the distance, "I'm doomed! Doomed! Dooooooomed- !" As she was taken away from the island.

When Chris turned around, he found Vera supporting a very shaken Alexandra, worse for wear. "I- feel like-" Alexandra croaked dryly. "Like I haven't eaten in days..."

Chris made a noise of uncertainty. "Yes and no? You were eating, just not very much." He snapped his fingers at the interns that had brought her in. "Take care of her then bring her to the girls' cabin. Now, dismissed!" He called to everyone else.

**The Votes**

Vera: Scott  
"Please let it work this time!" She crossed her fingers. "If it doesn't work this time, I'll give the whole thing up! But... if it does work, I have to vote out whoever Tabitha wants- but it doubt it could be that bad. Nothing can be that bad if the alternative is letting someone get hurt over and over."

Scott: Vera  
"Look who's back on top! I know everyone was throwing a fuss earlier, but I'll let it slide. They were most likely overwhelmed by the realization that once the merge hits, they'll have to face off against me. And Ray was... he was just watching my back. His concern just made him underestimate me, is all." Scott passed a dismissive hand. "And now he's helping me get rid of that pest who's been after my blood."

Ray: Vera  
"Yeah, I'll go through with what I promised Scott. To be honest, Vera's obsession with Scott makes her the least threat to ME, but I don't really know where anyone else stands. At least this way I know that my vote isn't standing alone."

Tabitha: Scott  
"Oh ho ho, poor Yvette has no idea who she turned down. I'm not trying to be mean, but she really needs to learn to have something to back her up when she decides to be Miss Heroic."

Yvette: Tabitha &amp; Double Vote Token!  
"I should have done this sooner."

Williams: Tabitha  
"The worse thing you can ever do? Lie to me. Tell me she's going to vote off Yvette, then turns around and makes deals with someone else? That. Was a very. Very. Bad move."

**The Tokens**

1 Double Vote Token, Owned By: Jacque  
1 Safe Vote Token, Owned By: Scott  
**  
Contestants**

The Wrathful Ants: Ray, Yvette, Williams, Scott, Vera  
The Thrashing Trout: Chloe, Ace, Jacque, Marshall, Alexandra  
Eliminated (in order): Cathy, Yuki, Angie, Young, Casper, Tabitha

**Hi everyone! Yeah, I know it's been a very very long time, sorry. Technically I could have gotten this out sooner, but then it would have been absolute crap, and I didn't want that to be what I came back with, you know? But sorry about just how long this came out to be, I'm starting to think maybe it would have been better if I cut this chapter into halves, oops.  
All in all, I hope I came back strong, and that this chapter was worthwhile! Have a good Thanksgiving if you celebrate it, and let me thank YOU for sticking with this story! (And at least you can be glad that this isn't another joke like the last chapter I posted on a holiday.)**


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